Year of The Comet PDF

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10650
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The year 2061 marks the Year of the Comet shakes and
return of Halley’s Comet and stirs the world of Shadowrun,
the 50th anniversary of the describing a series of events
around which gamemasters and
Awakening–do you celebrate
players can build entire adven-
or run for cover? Each day tures and campaigns. It details a
brings a new surprise. Will new dragon, new spirits, and
you transform into a genet- new genetic expressions that
ic changeling or fall prey to can affect your character.
a doomsday cult? Will
Year of the Comet is intended
you be in Denver when for gamemasters and players
the dragon runs amok of all experience levels.
or in Japan when the
For use with Shadowrun,
Ring of Fire deals
Third Edition.™
death to the
Empire? Will you
fight toxic spirits
in the Yucatán or
run from the walk-
ing dead?
Shadowrun, Year of the Comet and the WK Games logo are Registered
Trademarks and/or Trademarks of WizKids Inc. in the United States and/or
other countries. Copyright© 2001–2006 WizKids Inc. All rights reserved.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 4 HYSTERIA 42
A NEW AGE 5 Children of the Dragon 42
RETURN OF THE COMET 6 Cult of the Seventh Seal 46
The Awakened Skeptic 6 The Atlantean Rebirth 48
Halley’s History and Hysteria 8 Church of the Undying Light 50
The Night Sky 10 New Islamic Jihad 52
Smile for the Telescope 10 GHOST STORIES 55
Spiritually Speaking 11 The Watergate Rift 55
Party or Panic? 12 Enter the Dragon 56
The Probe Race 13 Rampage in Denver! 59
Probe Race Contenders 14 “Ghostwalker 1, Denver 0” 61
Probe Running 20 A Meeting of Minds 65
SURGE 22 “May You Live in Interesting Times” 67
Wake Up Call 25 State of the Front Range Free Zone 75
Science of the SURGE 26 LIKE MANA FROM HEAVEN 76
Overview 26 Wuxing: Hit the Ground Running 76
Classifying SURGE 27 The Orichalcum Rush 83
Possible Causes of SURGE 28 The Hot Spots 84
Who is Affected by the SURGE? 29 Dead Men Walking 87
The Future 29 Witch Hunt 89
The SURGE Crisis 30 Dead on Arrival 92
Politics of Hate 31 Putting the Dead to Rest 94
The Newest Rage—SURGE! 32 Uninvited Guests 96
The Changelings 34 RED SUNSET, RED SUNRISE 97
SURGE in Nature 35 Disaster Strikes 97
The New Paranormals 36 Death of an Emperor 101
Demon Rat 36 Riding the Tiger 104
Glomoss 37 CALIFORNIA UBER ALLES 106
Horned Bear 38 Chaos in San Francisco 106
Night Manta 38 The Fight for Freedom! 111
Sangre Del Diablo 39 Fallen is the City of Angels 112
Shambler 40 YUCATÁN WAR 115
Support the Oppressed People of the Yucatán 115
The Other Side 118
2 Year of the Comet

View from the Front 119 Adventure Ideas 157
Poisoning the Earth 120 Light’s Out 157
The Tide Turns 121 That’s the Spirit 157
Gaia’s Wrath 123 Bagging a Body 158
Spirits in Flux 124
AFTERSHOCKS 126
Seeds of Rebellion 126 YEAR OF THE COMET CREDITS
Run to the Border 130
Children of the Dragon Update 131
ORIGINAL CONCEPT AND DESIGN
GAME INFORMATION 134
Rob Boyle, Dan “Flake” Grendell, Steve Kenson, Michael Mulvihill,
How to Use Year of the Comet 134
Steve “Bull” Ratkovich, Brian Schoner
Running the Probe Race 137
SURGE 137
WRITING
SURGE in Your Campaign 137
Rob Boyle, Elissa Carey, Drew Curtis, Greg Davidson, Andy Frades,
SURGE and Characters 138
Patrick Goodman, Martin Gotthard, Dan “Flake” Grendell, Eleanor
The SURGE Test 138
Holmes, Jason Levine, Michelle Lyons, Ray Macey, Michael Mulvihill,
SURGE Effects 139
Steve “Bull” Ratkovich, Rich Tomasso, Jakko Westerbeke, Shane
Negative SURGE Effects 139
Winzar
Positive SURGE Effects 140
SURGE and Social Interaction 143
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Creating Your Own SURGE Effects 143
Rob Boyle
NPCs and SURGE 143
Michael Mulvihill
New Critters 143
Demon Rat 143
SHADOWRUN LINE DEVELOPER
Glomoss 144
Rob Boyle
Horned Bear 144
Night Manta 144
EDITING
Sangre Del Diablos 144
Rob Boyle
Shambler 144
Davidson Cole
Using Hysteria 145
Michelle Lyons
Using the Children of the Dragon 146
Michael Yates
Using the Cult of the Seventh Seal 146
Using the Atlantean Rebirth 146
ART
Using the Church of the Undying Light 146
Cover Art
Using the New Islamic Jihad 146
Matt Wilson
Using Ghost Stories 147
Cover Design
The Dunkelzahn Rift 147
John Bridegroom
Ghostwalker’s Rampage 148
Layout
The Mile High Dragon City 148
Jason Vargas
Magic and the Comet 148
Illustration
Wuxing and the Orichalcum Rush 148
Jim Nelson, Matt Plog, Steve Prescott, Shane White
The Well Dries Up 149
Using Natural Orichalcum 149
Shadowrun, Year of the Comet and the WK Games logo are Registered
Natural Orichalcum on the Black Market 149
Trademarks and/or Trademarks of Wizkids Inc. Copyright© 2006 WizKids
The Shedim 149 LLC. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys-
Shedim Rules 150 tem, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior per-
Shedim Powers 151 mission in writing of the Copyright Owner, nor be otherwise circulated in
Using Shedim 153 any form other than that in which it is published. All Rights Reserved.
Disaster in Japan 153
The Ring of Fire Speaks Up 153 Version 1.0 (February 2006) Based on Second Printingby FanPro LLC,
The Child Emperor 154 Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Chaos in California 154
Saito’s Empire 154 Find us online:
Ares and Silicon Valley 154 info@shadowrunrpg.com
The City of Angels 154 (Shadowrun questions; please check the website FAQ first!)
War in the Yucatán 155 http://www.shadowrunrpg.com
Jungle War 155 (official Shadowrun website)
Toxic Zones 155 http://www.fanprogames.com
Aftershocks 156 (FanPro website)
The Philippine Rebellion 156 http://www.wizkidsgames.com
The Sons of the Alamo 156 (WizKids website)
Elsewhere in the World 157 http://studio2publishing.com
(online FanPro/Shadowrun orders)
http://del.ico.us/shadowrun
(cool links)
Year of the Comet 3

INTRODUCTION
Year of the Comet is a pressurized can of whoop-ass for Hysteria crawls around the murky underbelly of Halley’s
the world of Shadowrun. This book contains a series of world- Comet—the cults and religious upheavals that occur as peo-
shaking events that will cause aftershocks for years to come. ple’s hatreds, desires and beliefs are inspired or altered by
It describes the chaos and upheaval as Halley’s Comet, the the comet’s passing.
harbinger of change, pays the Earth a visit in 2061. The Ghost Stories tells of the “re-birth” of an old dragon,
comet’s flyby also coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of whom the media dubs Ghostwalker. The astral form of this
the Awakening, that historic moment in 2011 when magic dragon claws its way through the Dunkelzahn Rift, reclaims its
returned to the world, elves and dwarfs were born and the body, then lays siege to Denver. The resulting political shift
great dragons awoke from ages of slumber. Is the timing acci- comes as a shock to many.
dental, or does it point to a new stage of world history? Like Mana From Heaven explores some of the magical
Year of the Comet provides gamemasters with numerous disturbances that arise in conjunction with the comet. In addi-
plot seeds to create adventures and campaigns anywhere in the tion to unusual fluctuations of mana and in astral space, the
world of Shadowrun. The information, plot hooks and storylines discovery of naturally-occurring orichalcum leads to a claim
provided allow the gamemaster to craft a setting where the rush as corporations and prospectors seek to mine the highly
player characters can either plug directly into the events taking valuable alchemical material. But the world is truly shaken by
place or plunge into a spin-off scenario. Many of these plot the arrival of the shedim, horrible new spirits that seize con-
seeds will blossom over time and in future Shadowrun books, trol of dead bodies, bringing them back to unlife.
constructing a story arc that players can relate to for years. Red Sunset, Red Sunrise explains how the eruption of the
Year of the Comet is presented as a series of electronic Ring of Fire brings disaster and chaos to Imperial Japan, lead-
documents posted by Captain Chaos, sysop of the vast ing to a power struggle that rocks the world. California Uber
Shadowland archive and data haven—the number one source Alles describes a side effect of Japan’s calamity, when a racist,
for shadowrunners on what’s going on in the world of rogue Japanese officer stages a coup and begins systemati-
Shadowrun. The documents are written by various characters, cally seizing chunks of California.
from hack journalists to shadowrunners to dragons, each with A new offensive to clear the Yucatan rebels out of the
their own prejudices and points of view. Each piece is marked jungles through chemical weaponry and brutal measures
up with a running commentary by other runners who add to, leads to a series of natural disasters, toxic zones and spirit
revise and contradict the original post. These pieces of black warfare, described in The Yucatan War.
information add innuendos, allegations, opinions, rumors, The Aftershocks chapter describes a few of the repercus-
misconceptions, misinformation, lies and sometimes even sions that the events above have on the rest of the world.
the truth to the information presented. It is left up to the From a Filipino revolt to a CAS-Aztlan border conflict to reli-
gamemaster to decide what information is correct and which gious infighting, these events illustrate the significance of the
is just filling, as appropriate to his or her game. changes enveloping the world.
The first document, Return of the Comet, describes the The Game Information section instructs the gamemaster
hype, media furor and general mayhem that accompanies on how to put all of this information to use. It includes rules
Halley’s Comet. It also delves into the megacorporate probe for characters affected by SURGE, details on the shedim and
race, a sensationalized and highly competitive contest to be new paracritters and also adventure ideas.
the first to reach the comet with a space probe.
The next chapter, SURGE, describes a new wave of transfor-
mation that sweeps metahuman society. The changelings creat-
ed by SURGE are unique, expressing their own particular genet-
ic traits. This chapter explains how the world reacts to SURGE,
first with fear and riots, then with cultural exploitation. It also
describes several newly discovered paracritters.
4 Year of the Comet

A NEW AGE
elcome to the new year, my friends. I hope your hangovers aren’t as bad as mine. I should
W have stuck to the nano-energy drink and champagne mixes rather than the hard stuff.
This year certainly promises to be an interesting one—perhaps even a new beginning.
The first news item in my inbox this morning tells me that the UN has officially declared 2061 to
be the “Year of the Comet.” Massive celebrations are already being planned to commemo-
rate the arrival of Halley’s Comet and the fiftieth anniversary of the Awakening. Many of you
readers are already celebrating the new job offers arriving on your doorstep.
Something tells me we’re going to have a lot to talk about this year. If the guy I saw walk-
ing down the street wearing tinfoil on his head is any clue, things are going to get interesting.
I’ve used this as an excuse to open up this new SIG. Maybe we’ll find some answers here.
“Why bother?” you say? I’ve heard the arguments. So what if the Awakening occurred fifty
years ago. Fifty is just an arbitrary number, right? Maybe, chummer, maybe. But if there’s any-
thing the Awakening and the return of magic taught us, it’s to expect the unexpected. As any
magical theorist can tell you, perception is the key to magic. According to the files I’ve read,
our willpower and our emotions have a strong impact upon the fluctuation of mana. So if all
across the globe people fear, desire or simply expect something to happen simply based upon
an arbitrary measurement, it just may.
Even more to the point is this comet business. You have to admit it’s quite a coincidence
that this historical harbinger of upheaval and doom just happens to be cruising back by our
planet at the same time as the big five-oh. Now we’re getting two doses of hype for the price
of one.
I know some of you don’t believe in coincidence; some do. You either think the universe is
yanking our collective chain, or we’re in for a wild ride.
Which begs the question: do we strap on our safety harnesses or crank down on the gas
pedal? I think I’ll do both.
> Captain Chaos
Transmitted: 1 January 2061 at 15:23:23 (PST)
Year of the Comet 5

RETURN OF THE COMET
I
figure the best way to prepare for the turbulence ahead is to get a firm grasp on what
we’re dealing with. Halley’s Comet brings with it a trainload of historical, psychological,
social and possibly magical baggage. Any articles I dig up that relate to the comet phe-
nomenon will go here. This will also include any mass reactions to the comet’s passing, such
as the “probe race” that’s shifting into high gear—and what they mean to shadowrunners.
> Captain Chaos
THE AWAKENED SKEPTIC

by Sam Langston, Skeptical Observer, January 2061
If you scan the open magic forums, you’ll find all kinds of speculation about the magical
effects that Halley’s Comet is expected to bring. Rains of frogs, bleeding idols, tornadoes,
volcanic eruptions, the liberation of all bound spirits—these are just a few of the hysterical
claims you will see.
All hype to the contrary, Halley’s Comet won’t have much of an impact on the mana-
sphere or anything else for that matter. Simply put, the comet will be too far away from Earth
to affect it. Depending on the theory you subscribe to, the manasphere extends to the edge
of the atmosphere, and even then the warping of astral space gets severe above seventy kilo-
meters. Even if you assume that the manasphere extends further into space, the extreme
warping it undergoes makes it unrecognizable. The likelihood of any magic effects crossing
the distance is minute. I don’t know of any serious theorist who would suggest the mana-
sphere extends past lunar orbit, and even on its closest approach the comet will be much fur-
ther out than that.
> One popular theory postulates that the “manasphere” has no boundaries—it extends across
the universe. However, the lack of life energies outside of a planetary body warps the mana
so severely that the use of magic in these areas is impossible at best, dangerous at worst. So
the chances of the comet interfering with Earth’s manafield are extremely unlikely.
> Talon
6 Year of the Comet

> There’s another theory that claims heavenly bodies like the HALLEY’S HISTORY AND HYSTERIA
comet may create disturbances and fluctuations even in by Kepler
mana-warped areas, like the ripples and waves created by a In only a few months Halley’s Comet will be visible to the
passing boat. These “mana waves” may have an impact as naked eye. For those of you too lazy to load your search rou-
they wash over our planet, especially if they are based in tines, I’ve done you the favor of compiling the following facts
warped mana. and historical footnotes.
Halley’s Comet was first recorded in 239 BCE in China and
> Wide Eyed
made its first predicted appearance on Christmas 1758, short-
ly after Edmund Halley’s death. It swings by on its retrograde
> Chummer, I can theorize that the comet will turn my skin blue orbit every 76 years or so. The orbit has an inclination of 162.2
and make me sprout antenna, but until you got some facts to
degrees, an orbital eccentricity of .967, a semi-major axis of
back it up, I ain’t believing drek.
17.94 AU, and is below the elliptic most of the time. It cross-
> Andy Ryan es the elliptic near Earth’s orbit, which makes viewing easy for
Halley’s greatest effect will be on popular psychology. us. It will reach a perihelion of .6 AU behind the Sun in January.
Emotions can and do affect magic. Any forensic magician will The comet will be visible to the naked eye from September
tell you that a murder scene feels quite different astrally than a to late November of 2061. It will be visible again on its return
Sunday picnic. With all of the hysteria surrounding the comet, pass from March to April of 2062, but less so since it will be
the general feel of astral space may fluctuate over large areas. farther from Earth. Extend these times for telescope viewing.
On the nights you can see the comet clearly, there may be Back in 1986 it had a magnitude of 5.5, but it’s brighter this
swaths of panic, elation, excitement, fear, confusion and what- time (estimates range from 5.7 up to an unconfirmed 6.0), and
ever else people are feeling. It is likely that comet visibility may we’re not sure why.
create low background counts in areas where masses of peo-
ple see and react to it. > Scientists speculate that a stronger dose of solar radiation
(thanks to heavy solar flare activity) has vaporized higher
amounts of gas from the comet’s nucleus, increasing the size of
> Not anything more than you’d expect to get from a really
energetic music concert. the comet’s coma and tail.
> Magister > Astro Boy

The comet’s arrival at the time of the fiftieth anniversary of > Except that this has been a banner low year on the solar flare
the Awakening is surely just a coincidence. The number fifty has activity scale.
no special magical significance, and scientists who have been > Orbital Bandit
measuring the so-called “mana curve” do not expect or see signs
of any fluctuations in the ambient mana level. The widespread We got a fairly good look at Halley last time, and this
claims that Halley’s Comet was predicted by the Mayan calendar approach will be monitored by hundreds of telescopes and
are patently false. In fact, the Mayan calendar round repeats just dozens of satellites, most of which are already in space. There’s a
under every fifty-two years, which may indicate some change in great deal of interest: governments, corporations, universities
2063, long after the comet is gone, but not 2061. and even magical foundations are sponsoring research and inves-
In short, I don’t think the approach of the famous comet tigations. A media-driven “probe race” is already underway, as
will be anything like throwing a rock into a pond or kicking dozens of corporations struggle to be the first to fly a probe past
over an anthill or opening a floodgate. Once it passes and is the comet, or even land one there. Driven by Matrix rumors,
out of sight, most people will realize it was a historic occasion, comet stories are circulating furiously. The most popular claim
but more a non-event than anything else. We’ll all forget about than an unidentified alien spacecraft has been spotted tailing the
it and get on with our lives. The “Year of the Comet” won’t comet, that one telescope has clearly viewed a face etched into
seem like anything special. the comet’s surface and that the comet has an astral aura.
> I’m taking bets on expected changes this year. Current odds > I heard spectroanalysis showed that the comet carries
on Dunkelzahn’s return are 18 to 1, The sinking of LA is 5 to 1, orichalcum.
and a CAS-UCAS reunification is currently at 32 to 1. Place your > Chemical Spill
bets!
> Oddball > Puh-leez! It’s ice and mud, maybe with a small rock in the
center.
> I’ll bet you 5,000 nuyen that the world won’t end. Sucker. > Abacus
> Grid Reaper
> Unlikely, Spill. They tried to find something unusual about the
comet Wirtannen when it zoomed by in 2012. No sign of magic
> You are fools to dismiss change so quickly. All routines falter dust then and no verifiable signs now.
eventually. The world is never as safe as it seems.
> Man-of-Many-Names > Tesseract
8 Year of the Comet

> Do you think the corps would publicize that it was made of were widespread. Religious revivals did their biggest business
orichalcum? They’re keeping it under their belts—and that’s since the doomsday of the Millerites in the 1840’s, and even
the real reason behind the probe race. professional astronomers attracted crowds of thousands. From
> Astrolabe the New York, Los Angeles and Chicago newspapers alone
there were reports of eight suicide attempts (seven successful),
Halley’s best-known pre-modern apparition was in 1066. five people committed to insane asylums, two murders, five
The appearance inspired mass terror in Europe and was said to accidental deaths, one murder confession and one virgin-sacri-
foreshadow war and the death of kings. The English and the fice that were all directly attributable to the comet.
Normans were preparing for invasion, and both saw the spec-
tacle as a dire omen, though no one knew at whom the celes- > With all the comet loonies running around the Barrens right
tial sword was pointed. It was only after the Battle of Hastings now, I think we’re going to top those figures before the comet
and the death of King Harold II in October that the chroniclers is even visible.
decided the comet must have been bad for the English. The
> Straightjacket
victory of William the Conqueror and the Normans changed
the face of England—and the course of history. Of course, not everyone in 1910 was infected by comet
In an early sixteenth century illustrated manuscript of civic fever. Newspapers devoted at most one page a day to the
history called the Lucerne Chronicles, the 1456 appearance of return of Halley’s Comet. None of them issued subscription
Halley’s Comet was blamed for earthquakes, illness, a mysteri- cancellation notices, so they clearly didn’t believe the world
ous red rain and even the births of two-headed animals. That was going to end. Cartoonists zealously poked fun at both
year, according to popular legend, Pope Callixtus III excom- astronomers and the public’s fears. Most people simply took it
municated the comet as an instrument of the devil. as a chance to celebrate—every major city had numerous
“comet parties.” In one entertaining instance, a thousand
> That’s because Halley’s Comet is Wormwood, and it signals Dartmouth College students performed a snake dance in their
the coming Apocalypse. Wormwood will fall upon the Earth pajamas at midnight and then went to serenade astronomers.
and poison our waters!
> Rev 8:10–11 > A lot of cities are planning similar mega-gala events this year,
both for the comet and for the Awakening anniversary. The
> And here I thought Chernobyl (Wormwood in Russian) had Times Square blast will be the biggest, with a free concert fea-
already done the devil’s work to us. turing just about every big-name band you can think of. In
> Rad Trooper Japan, they’re planning a party that will feature a gigantic seg-
mented dragon balloon-puppet to simulate the appearance
Comets still inspired fear and trepidation even after advances of Ryumyo. But the real action will be at the private soirees held
in astronomy recognized the snowballs as members of our solar by corp powerbrokers and high-society cliques—good hunting
system. A better understanding did not prevent people from grounds for eavesdropping, extractions and more.
blaming the 1835–36 appearance of Halley’s Comet for every-
thing from the massacre at the Alamo to a fire that almost burned > Party Crasher
New York City to a crisp to a disastrous fire in British Parliament. The last appearance of Halley’s Comet in the enlightened
In 1910, new myths were born. Astronomers at the 1980s saw a continuation of comet craziness. One rumor claimed
University of Chicago discovered that Halley’s tail contained that the comet would crash into the North Pole, corrupt the
poisonous cyanogen gas. Panic ensued when it was “realized” Earth’s magnetic field, and electrocute us one and all! Like previ-
that the Earth was scheduled to pass through the “deadly” tail ous times, the comet heralded disasters and changes such as the
on May 18th. Newspaper headlines warned: “Comet’s Tail explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, which set the U.S. and
Poisonous: French Astronomer Thinks Gases Might Affect the other space programs back several years, and the beginning of
Earth’s Atmosphere.” This led to widespread construction of Perestroika, which led to the downfall of the Soviet Union.
gas-proof rooms around the world, sometimes with instruc-
tions from scientists. The scientific finding was a boon to wily
> There are some interesting literary connections to Halley’s
entrepreneurs who hawked comet pills, inhalers, conjure bags Comet over the years. Machiavelli’s The Prince and Chaucer’s
and comet insurance to the gullible.
works were posthumously published in 1532. Samuel Clemens
The 1910 apparition was also a bright one, since the
(Mark Twain) was born in 1835 and died in 1910. And just yes-
comet passed so close to Earth. The large fire in the sky fright-
terday, Nobel Laureate Yelena Zvereva died at the age of 76.
ened people, and the proximity suggested an impact. The
Chicago Daily Tribune ran a front page headline that read: She was born in 1985. All of these years were comet years.
“Comet to Bounce off Earth Today.” Across the United States, > Bookworm
generalized panic inspired similar headlines, such as “See
Comet Then Die,” “Several Driven Insane: Others Commit > Trust me, those dates only have meaning if you believe they
Suicide,” and “Killed Watching For Comet.” People who fore- have meaning.
saw the end of the world sold their property. Work stoppages > The Laughing Man
“HA! Fraggin’ HA!”
Year of the Comet 9

Will we see similar comet hysteria this year? Definitely. If you are a sprawl dweller, I recommend supporting one
Already we are seeing some of the most extreme comet cult of the voluntary blackout initiatives being pursued in some
activity in history. Matrix rumors are already in full swing, such municipalities. Across the globe, astronomy clubs and sky-
as the fake internal Saeder-Krupp memo being circulated that minding civic leaders are hoping to arrange temporary black-
claims the comet is carrying a batch of Lofwyr’s eggs. In poli- outs in metropolitan areas so that the comet’s glory can be
tics, Tir Tairngire has announced the re-scheduling of the next seen by all. These initiatives are being resisted due to public
Rite of Progression and there are reports of a call for elections safety concerns, so they need all the support they can get.
in England. The frequency of mana storms and unusual mana-
related disturbances around the world is on the rise, making > Aw yeah, I’m all over that one. Convince the city to turn off
the magical community buzz with excitement. And at least one all the lights? I’m in favor! Just imagine the running opportuni-
of the zillions of probes being prepared to fly by the comet has ties …
succumbed to sabotage as the corps engage in a heavy com- > The Ex
petition for the prestige of getting there first.
More events will likely follow in the coming months. A
year from now, we’ll have a wealth of amazing headlines to look
> Don’t quote me on this, but I hear there’s a Matrix gang/cult
calling itself the Bright Night that’s planning on arranging some
back on. The interesting question to ponder will be: “Without
involuntary blackouts, if you get my drift. They claim the comet
the comet, would these events have happened anyway?”
will cause a catastrophe if we don’t dim the lights as a sign of
respect. Or at least that’s the excuse they give for wanting to
THE NIGHT SKY
wreak some havoc.
from Astronomica, August 2061
The return of Halley’s Comet will be quite a treat for the > Sidewinder
world’s stargazers, and there’s even more to come. A total For those of you looking ahead, December 24th will be a
lunar eclipse is scheduled for September 29th, followed by an full moon—perfect for those all-night Awakening parties. And
annular solar eclipse on October 13th (the best show will be thanks to Halley, the Eta Aquirid meteor showers should be
over the South Shetland Islands off the coast of Antarctica). quite a sight for the next decade.
Several planetary conjunctions occur throughout the fall, most
notably Mars and Venus in the southwest and Neptune and
SMILE FOR THE TELESCOPE
Saturn in the northeast during October. As a final treat, we’ll
by Carl Peterson, MatrixWeek, August 2061
get a glimpse of the Orionids meteor shower, peaking on
Ares and the UCAS government issued a joint press
October 19th.
release today detailing the deployment of a massive infra-
For the best view of the comet, I’d recommend that trip to
structure upgrade in the Hubble II space telescope uplink and
the countryside you’ve been thinking about. Sprawl dwellers
data distribution systems. Apparently, the demand for
are going to have their view muddled by light pollution unless
images of Halley’s Comet from the Hubble II has grown too
they’re very high up. As a good rule of thumb, if you can’t see
large for the system to handle, causing a series of system
the Big Dipper you won’t be able to see Halley. Prime viewing
crashes. A new 20 gigapulse switch was installed at Goddard
time is after sunset, before moonrise.
to offload data requests and has been operating at full capac-
ity since its activation. A new mirror site was also brought on-
> The close approach will fall near Samhain. This could be bad. line in Hong Kong today to handle the unexpected demand
If the comet pierces the veil between the worlds, chaotic
from Asia.
comet energies will enter the spirit world and create turmoil. I’d
advise against séances or ancestor spirit summoning until after
November 22nd.
> Sure, blame the system crashes on popularity. Nice way to
cover up the results of a shadowrun and still look good, Ares.
> Scary Bob > Gremlin
> The comet will be closest to us with the Sun in Scorpio, the sign In response to public pressure, Ares has also cut the 24
of death, so expect calamities. I predict numerous accidents hour processing delay for releasing images to 12 hours, so that
and killings. I for one am staying indoors. viewers may now see the previous night’s appearance during
> Harbinger the day. Corporate efficiency watchdogs have reported that
productivity has slipped in many offices due to comet image
> Good news for us. One less loony to deal with. viewing; many corporations are now limiting access to the
images to lunch hours and late night only.
> Bung
> No, we should be looking at the comet in Taurus. I expect great > That 12 hour “processing” delay still gives them enough time
wealth and personal growth. And Scorpio is a sign of rebirth and to doctor the images. The truth is out there!
transformation. The comet is clearly a symbol for the Awakening. > MUFON Boy
> Charouse
10 Year of the Comet

comet. The popular leader of the Islamic Unity Movement, Ibn
> Get a life, chummer. There’s so many fraggin’ telescopes Eisa, proclaimed that the comet was a sign of Allah’s will, sig-
peeking at that comet right now that nothing is going to hap- naling a need to draw all Muslims together. Several Islamic
pen there without word leaking out. groups are also rising to new levels of prominence as their tra-
> Carl ditional fields of astronomy and astrology are currently in high
demand and high regard.
With Halley being brighter than expected and coming in At the other end of the spectrum, the various pagan and
relatively close to Earth, the images are nothing short of spec- Awakened faiths are, quite frankly, living it up. Not all attribute
tacular. Advertising rates for image sites have doubled in the special significance to the comet, but those that do are attract-
last week and are expected to increase again. Matrix sites that ing converts and reaching out into their communities. Comet
charge to access Halley images are recording in excess of a celebrations and rituals are quite common and growing in fre-
hundred hits per hour. quency. Some of these groups also report an upsurge in spirit
Amateur observations are also popular. Many comet- activity.
watchers have pooled their resources and images to create 3- Many people are finding answers, or at least sympathy, in
D approximations of the comet, usually with animations. Most these groups. The Children of the Dragon are the most rapidly
of these sites are contributing to the International Halley Watch growing group, with thousands of new members. The vigil
Digital Archive, which will be available next July from the sponsored by the Children at the DeeCee Rift on the anniver-
AresSpace Planetary Data Systems Small Bodies Node on the sary of Dunkelzahn’s death drew a crowd of thousands, many
UCAS National Space Sciences Data Center host. of whom haven’t left yet.
Mainstream religious groups have not had to deal with a
SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING situation like this since the Awakening—the turn of the
by Amy McNeill, Seattle Times, 18 August 2061 Millennium was nothing by comparison. As comet rumors
Across the globe, religious groups are greeting the arrival escalate and reports of magical phenomenon increase, the
of the controversial Halley’s Comet, seen in the past as a por- fears of their members are intensifying. Some are being driven
tent of doom and chaos, with mixed reactions. Since many away from their faith, while others are finding solace and
organized religions have suffered a decline in membership answers in new beliefs. The comet is sending a shockwave
over the past few decades, they have prepared aggressive through society, driving people into new modes of thinking.
strategies to retain their flocks in the face of the Awakening As the recent self-immolation of a man in downtown Seattle
anniversary and comet hype. Many of these groups report that proved, heightened tensions and emotions will inflame
their constituency numbers remain stable, despite a high extreme attitudes and actions—his note said that he sacrificed
turnover rate. himself so the world would survive the wrath of the comet.
Christian denominations are each responding to the
comet’s return in different manners. Most are simply warn- > I hear some corps are taking measures to squash comet hys-
ing against attributing any spiritual significance to the comet. teria among their employees. Rumor control is in full swing, so
Others are going so far as to denounce the numerous comet- wageslaves can expect their Matrix activity to be monitored
related cults that are arising. A few minor Christian sects are and their “extracurricular” activities to be scanned for signs of
encouraging their flocks to prepare for the Rapture, and a “cult behavior.” I can just imagine what their “deprogramming”
breakaway Mormon sect is preparing for an unspecified sessions are like.
“New Exodus.” Other groupings, such as the Southern > Almac
Baptists, are proclaiming the comet as a sign that the
Awakening will end, and that the Satanic influence of magic
upon the world will soon cease. These congregations are
> At the same time, a lot of corps are squeezing the comet for
all the marketing gimmicks they can. And with the probe race
preparing massive celebrations and revivals, expecting
in full swing, these same corps are also building the hype that
many to renew their faith.
they’re worried may provoke bad reactions. It’s a dangerous
The Vatican is urging dioceses to offer extra services for
the faithful in these trying times. The Archbishop of Seattle, game they’re playing.
Richard Simoneau, recently announced that area churches will > MacBeth
hold special nightly masses through the months of September,
October and November, to offer strength to people against > Yeah, I got “caught” reading some Children of the Dragon lit-
the anxiety over these turbulent times. Cardinal von erature. Got a good talking-to, so I quit. You’d think 50 hours per
Heeremann of the German Catholic Church announced the would buy me some slack.
successful prosecution of several comet-worshipping cults in > Sam@echostation.org
Westphalia. He urged all proper Catholics to “pray for the
souls of wayward humanity that they might find strength in > Not in this life, chummer.
the Lord during these chaotic times.” > Tesseract
The Muslim world, often wracked with violence and fac-
tionalism, has been surprisingly unified in welcoming the
Year of the Comet 11

PARTY OR PANIC? Everyone seems to have something to say. Humanis and
by Susanna Tarriq, UCAS Today, 20 August 2061 the Vatican aren’t happy about any of this, but Awakened
Halley’s Comet will be in sight in just a few weeks, but groups are dancing in the streets. Joe Average on Main Street
already you can’t step outside—or into the Matrix—without just seems confused. It’s like Mardi Gras meets Halloween out
the comet hitting you over the head. Everywhere you go, it’s there. The skeptics are trying to retain their calm, but they’re
non-stop news and hype about the Awakening anniversary being drowned out by the voices of those who claim the comet
and Halley’s Comet. Comet icons. Dragon balloons. Comet is a sign. Even a few sage experts concede that something may
insurance. Cults and celebrations. Do we paint the town red or happen. Who should we trust? Who should we listen to?
hide out in the hills? Panic and euphoria are parading through Comet art is everywhere, now that a campaign to cele-
the media like evil twins. brate the Awakening and comet visit with public murals has
If you believe the tabloid screamsheets, Halley has set in brightened walls across the UCAS. Sneaky comet insignias
motion the end of civilization. Hundreds of Matrix sites are have also infiltrated several corporate logos. Comet tattoos are
pumping out advice on how to survive the coming cataclysm. de rigueur in some circles, and comet graffiti is costing cities
Purchases of bottled water and bulk, dried and canned food are thousands in clean-up bills.
soaring. Some people are trying to cash in their credit for hard If you turn on the trid, you’d think the megacorps invent-
currency. Hardware stores are having trouble keeping flash- ed Halley’s Comet as an advertising ploy. Orbital vacation
lights, batteries and portable generators in stock. Telescopes are packages are selling like mad despite extra charges for “comet
selling quite well. And Lone Star reports that black market viewing.” Concrete Dreams, which has been virtually silent for
firearm dealers are raking it in. two years, is on constant rotation with their new single called
“Halley Come Down,” climbing the charts like a rocket.
Even the NAN states are getting in on the action, spon-
> I know a street doc that’s making a killing selling “cometware,”
I drek you not. From what I gathered, he’s just added some extra soring comet-viewing vacations to remote areas with no
electrical surge protection and cutoff circuits, then marketed
electricity for miles and reasonably clear skies. Some are
even marketing to the gloom-and-doom crowd, selling shel-
them as defenses against “comet rays and comet radiation.”
ters and remote encampments as a safe haven from the end
Sadly, some of the local gangers just don’t know any better.
of the world.
> Skaven

Whether it’s cults, commercials, catastrophes, conspira- > And while everyone’s bedazzled by the spectacle and losing
cies or a carnival, Halley seems to be delivering something for cred on comet crap, the corps continue to rape our planet,
everyone this year. exploit workers and throw their weight around unnoticed. Ain’t
distractions grand?
THE PROBE RACE > Black Bloc
by Orbital Bandit
Nothing captures the world’s imagination like adventures What’s in it for the corps? Well, ego, grandeur and a mar-
in space. All the cred that gets raked in by cheezeball space- keting coup to start—whoever wins the probe race will be seen
opera trid shows and simchips proves my point. So when a as the leader in space development and will lord it over the other
once-in-a-lifetime oddball event like Halley’s Comet comes corps for the next 75 years. The probe race is also a boost to
around, everyone sits up and takes notice. And when the corp research and development, as the top corporate wetware works
survey takers, pollsters and marketing hacks smell mass inter- overtime to achieve breakthroughs that will win the prize. While
est, they converge on it like sharks to blood. the corps are pouring meganuyen into these projects, they’re
In the late 2050s, the space industry was alive, but it was- sure to make a profit as the trickle down effect of this new tech-
n’t exactly thriving. The profits from space-based research and nology works its way into society as modern household items.
construction were high enough to keep the corps interested,
and the habitat tourist trade was strong enough to keep the traf- > Though many of you scoff at the idea of a corp holding laud-
fic flowing up and down the gravity well. But the corp war made able goals, there are also substantial scientific reasons pushing
everyone a bit more paranoid and everything a bit more expen- the probe race forward. There are still many things we need to
sive. Leaving the planet and going into space was interesting, learn about our solar system and how it formed, and comets
but not exciting. There was no panache, no zeal, no vision. are holding many clues frozen under layers of eon-old ice.
The comet has turned all of that inside out faster than your Since comet appearances are not exactly common, we need
lungs in vacuum. When Ares first announced back in 2060 that
to take advantage of the ones we can plan for.
they were going to send a probe to say hi to Halley, it grabbed
the world by the short and curlies. The media response was > Seer
overwhelming, Matrix sites were overloaded with hits, imagi-
nation was soaring—and all of the other corps realized they > Even though we’ve had the technology to closely examine
needed to get their dirty little fingers in on the probing action. comets for decades, our track record has been lousy, as we’ve
With a few weeks, every corp with space assets had screwed up the few chances we’ve had so far. For example,
announced plans to buzz the comet with their own spycraft. the NASA probe launched to intercept the Temple 1 comet in
The race was on! 2006 failed disastrously. There’s heavy pressure coming down to
get it right this time.
> For those of you who fed your history sims to the dog, the first > Challenger
space race took place between the old USA and USSR in the
1950s and 60s. The Russkies took an early lead, when they put > Bulldrek. Almost half a dozen probes buzzed the comet on its
first a satellite, then a dog and finally a human into orbit. But the last pass. It’s been done already, so why the big deal now?
Americans staged a comeback and won the race by landing > Suisei
the first man on the moon in 1969.
> Laika > That was seventy-five years go. Who remembers that? It’s his-
tory. That means nothing to modern day, instant gratification,
> Some nutcases believe the US staged the moon landing— no-long-term memory media consumers like us. A lot of the
that it was all filmed on secret stage sets and used to dupe the records and data were lost in the Crash, anyway. Plus it’s a cor-
world. Not me, though. I’m a good citizen who believes all the porate race this time, and corporate media jingoism blows
government propaganda. I would never suspect that any of good old-fashioned patriotism out of the water.
our world’s dear megacorps would try anything so shocking or > Transcendant
distasteful.
Aside from the cred and the toys, there’s one other major
> Sir Chasm side effect of the probe race that everyone seems to be miss-
What we have now is a media blitz of massive propor- ing so far—a rekindled interest in space. The orbitals are
tions. It can be compared to the race to map the human already booked solid by those hoping to get a peek at Halley’s
genome or to cure AIDS, or to the rivalry of the Urban Brawl snowball without all of that pesky air getting in the way. As a
championship—only it’s better, because it’s a space race. All of result, many spacecorps have rapid expansion plans underway
the mystery, danger and futuristic excitement of space travel to take advantage of the rush. But more to the point, space has
make this a race that people won’t forget. And the corps will transformed in the public mind from a faraway place that the
ensure that by bombarding us all with kitsch like Solar corps exploit into a place that’s exciting to go. Momma Earth
Soyburgers, Cometary Fries and Halley Value Meals. has been a possessive parent, but it’s time that we escaped her

clutches and started reaching for the mysteries of the stars, the AresSpace base or from the Alaskan Spaceport on Kodiak
same mysteries that have been driving us since we first Island, in the Athabascan Council.
climbed out of the trees and stared at the night sky. AresSpace launch sites are the most sophisticated in the
Frankly, it gets kind of lonely up here in orbit, looking world, and boast appropriate security. Each site is well pro-
down on all you busy ants, and I’m sick of seeing the same old tected by Knight Errant ground forces outfitted with milspec
mugs whenever I dock. So it’s going to be refreshing to have gear, and hosts enough light armor and attack aircraft to
lots of new blood and talent climbing up the well. New people repulse a significant invasion. Cutting edge anti-missile sys-
means new experiences, and more people means more oppor- tems (the type Ares doesn’t sell to the world at large yet)
tunities for shadow work. Get my drift? guard the rockets against attempts to shoot them down.
> That’s right. The corp media campaign will bring all sorts of new > I hear AresSpace regularly sends drone “escorts” that
cred to near space, and the orbital population is already boom- accompany launches up until a specified altitude as a last
ing. And where the money and corps go, shadowrunners follow. line of defense.
> Ad Astra > Galaga
AresSpace maintains dozens of additional facilities
> It’s possible that the energy may keep going even after
Halley is gone. Ares has plans for a base on Mars, so I can see
around the world, mostly dedicated to deep space tracking,
radio astronomy and uplink points for their satellite net-
a race to be the first to land humans on the Red Planet being
works. The AresSpace headquarters and command center
the next big thing. I hear some of the other corps have plans for
remains in Houston.
the asteroid belt and Europa, and there’s other planets as well.
Ares’ presence in space is almost as expansive as its
> Uri Gagarin ground facilities. Depending upon whom you talk to, Ares
has at least five operational off-world habitats, including a
PROBE RACE CONTENDERS
moon base and a station in solar orbit, and possibly many
Now that this probe race is reaching escape velocity, I told
more. Most of these stations are dedicated to research or
the Cap that I would supply Shadowland with a download of
small-scale production.
who’s planning what and where. Some probes are already
complete and on their way, while others are being trashed
thanks to, ahem, “unforeseen complications.” The world’s > Word is that Damien Knight takes a personal interest in the inter-
launch pads are abuzz with activity, and the top secret research action of space and magic, and that a hefty chunk of AresSpace
installations are all stocking up on extra caffeine and deodor- research involves initiated mages, paranormal critters like devil
ant. Since you may find yourself as an active agent in these pro- rats and Awakened prison inmates serving as test subjects.
ceedings, you should know all you can about the probe race’s > Braxton
ins and outs. Here’s a summary of the major players.
Ares initiated the probe race with the unveiling of their 8-
ton, 2-billion nuyen Gigas probe. Under construction for the
> It’s worth pointing out here that most of the projects outlined past two years, the heavy Gigas has already been launched to
below are planned to intercept the comet on its first pass by the
much fanfare. In addition to a heavy instrumentation payload,
Earth. Several of the corps have back-up plans to hit the comet
the Gigas probe features a state-of-the-art prototype fusion
with a probe on the second pass, in case the first one fails.
drive being tested for the first time. Though favored to win the
> B-Team race, the slow Gigas may well be overtaken by lighter, faster
probes launched at a later date.
Ares Macrotechnology
Ares, with its aptly named aerospace division, AresSpace,
is the undisputed top dog in space. Ever since their purchase > I heard the Gigas is armed with several magnetic induction
of NASA from the US government in 2016 and the downfall of guns, which will be fired at the comet body as the probe pass-
competitor Harris-3M during the Crash, Ares has dominated es by at an estimated distance of 20 kilometers. Gigas will col-
almost all aspects of off-world development. Individual corps lect samples of the ejecta, reporting its findings and also return-
may compete within a specific niche of space development, ing them to Earth.
but no one can compete on all fronts. > Blazer
AresSpace launch facilities are concentrated on the North
American continent. Cape Canaveral is their primary launch > Those guns may be a way of dealing with competitor probes
pad and sees more rocket launches per year than any other as well.
facility in the world (approximately one a week). Kennedy > Flak
Space Center in Florida, Edwards Base in CalFree and Wallops
Island in Virginia also see launches on a less frequent schedule, In response to the swarm of rival probes, Ares has also
as do the China Lake and Inyokern Test Range sites. Most orbit- cobbled together two secondary probes, named Velox I and II.
destined spaceplane flights launch from either the Edwards These two probes are going to be launched via chemical rock-
et from Cape Canaveral a week apart, and are set to ren-

dezvous with the comet before the Gigas. The Velox probes Saeder-Krupp’s entry in the probe race is a little rocket by
are scheduled to pass through the comet’s tail, collecting sam- the name of Duccio. Named after an Italian painter of the thir-
ples of the ionized material that makes up the comet’s body. teenth century, Duccio is unique from the other probes in that it
is designed to directly intercept the comet and land on the sur-
Saeder-Krupp face itself. Duccio’s entry into the probe race came rather late,
Saeder-Krupp’s space program centers on orbital produc- almost as an afterthought, and was not given the media boost
tion, resource exploitation and satellite networks. Based on the that other corps gave their probes. They won’t even say when
remnants of the European Space Agency, Saeder-Krupp has or where it’s going to be launched from, though I have it on
also picked up several state-controlled sites that had fallen into good authority that it will be launched from the
disrepair. Saeder-Krupp’s primary launch centers are the Himmelsschmiede (Sky Forge) orbital. Since Lofwyr is being all
Tyuratam Space Center in Baikonur, Khazakastan and the quiet about it, the probe has become a major controversy. Every
Ariane Center just outside of Kourou in French Guiana, right crackpot conspiracy theorist under the sun has speculated about
next to the Proteus launch pad on Devil’s Island. Each of these Lofwyr’s actual intentions in landing a probe aboard the comet.
boasts over five separate launch pads, extensive landing fields, While most of the theories are just plain loopy, it does make you
testing complexes and cryogenics centers. pause when you wonder what the wizworm wants exactly.
> Both Baikonur and Kourou are historical sites with hundreds of > Duccio has a payload of magical telesma that, once
launches notched into their gantries. That means they host deployed, will allow Lofwyr to directly affect the comet with rit-
museums, tours, launch viewing centers and other tourist ual magic. A ritual of that size will require massive sacrifices to
draws. This could provide a shadow team with some opportu- offset the drain—what disaster will the dragon sponsor to claim
nities for access. his victims?
> Austin > George
Saeder-Krupp has a secondary launch site in Overberg, at
> Bulldrek. The serpent’s going to blow the comet out of the sky.
the southern tip of Africa, just 200 kilometers from Cape Town. It’s a dragon, for chrissakes, so it doesn’t want us to find out the
Equipped with thermal vacuum chambers, insulated hangars
truth about how life was created in this solar–3.7 Mp deleted by
and a powerful Matrix system, Overberg handles the bulk of
Sysop.
Saeder-Krupp’s research and testing. The corp also uses a
number of facilities across Europe to launch and land subor- > Drummer
bitals and semiballistics. Many other sites are used for satellite
tracking, radio astronomy, spacecraft telemetry and other > If you want to torture yourself by reading the other 98 theories
roles. Saeder-Krupp accomplishes about two rocket lift-offs a on Lofwyr’s Secret Plans, scan the Comet Conspiracy SIGs.
month, primarily destined for its lunar base, though its space- > Captain Chaos
plane traffic is much higher. “I am everywhere!”
Thanks to its design, Duccio has the highest chance of fail-

> No one seems to know where exactly Saeder-Krupp’s main
ure of all the probes—there’s just too many things that might
Space Control Center is located. The old European Space
go wrong when they try to land it. But Saeder-Krupp claims it’s
Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany is the prime
“worth the risk” for the unequalled opportunities a successful
suspect, but Matrix traffic analysis and radio interception indi- landing would allow. With no chance of return, Duccio will take
cate otherwise. My guess is that they have some sort of ESA hide- samples, photographs and other readings directly on the sur-
out or missile command bunker tucked away somewhere in face of the comet, before transmitting them to Earth. It will also
Europe. Lofwyr likes to keep his command centers well protect- drill into the comet and do some additional sampling. Unable
ed. to decouple again from the comet, Duccio will become a per-
> Felix manent inhabitant and will join Halley’s on its unending jour-
ney around the sun.
> There’s talk in the Islamic countries that Saeder-Krupp
recently finished constructing a new secret launch facility > What right do they have to do that? The comet is a com-
deep in the desert. No one can identify what country, but the pletely natural, untouched wonder. Where do they get off
rumor claims the nation is keeping it under wrap in exchange putting one of mankind’s creations on it and destroying its
for satellite launches. untouched tranquillity?
> Kohl > Grub
> Saeder-Krupp transports a lot of bulk material in and out of > I’m not so much worried about the tranquillity, but what hap-
the atmosphere—these shipments offer excellent opportunities pens if things go wrong? Couldn’t the probe destabilize the
to smuggle gear, weapons or even people up and down the orbit of the comet?
well. Just be careful with your measurements. > Weeble
> Astrhobo
> People, it’s a ball of ice. Ice, mud and rocks. Within it lay their air space, and there’s a flock of security drones in the sky
potential hints as to the creation of our sun and our solar sys- around these sites at any given time. I would imagine they’ve
tem, and you are worried about disturbing its tranquillity? It’s got some serious spirit muscle on call as well.
not going to fall out of orbit, and it’s not going to care if it gets > Steel Lynx
a permanent piggy backer, but I sure will care if it helps us
understand our world more. > Their weakness is undersea defense. While Novatech has tight
connections with several pirate crews in the Carib, they don’t
> Seer have the undersea tech edge that other corps do. Their Carib
Novatech Fuchi Orbital launch pad is mobile, though, so finding it’s cur-
Novatech may be a minor megacorp dirtside, but in space rent location may be tricky. Be careful when you ask around—
it’s a hotshot. Novatech inherited all of Fuchi’s aerospace their rum-splashing buddies have been known to leak word of
assets, including two major orbital habitats, several smaller shadow ops to them.
ones and some noteworthy satellite networks. Though Ares > Gremlin
and Saeder-Krupp have more assets in space, Novatech keeps
pace by sliding a bit ahead on the technology curve. Novatech’s comet probe, the Whipple, is under rapid con-
Novatech has two rocket launch pads, both based on sea struction onboard the Camelot research station. I actually got a
platforms. The first is based in Formosa Bay, off the Kenyan peek at this puppy, and it puts the other probes to shame in
coast, and is used primarily for Novatech’s Darkside Junction the style department. Most of the other corps just let their top
station and top secret projects. The second is based on a geeks design the probes and tossed aesthetics out the airlock.
mobile rig in the Caribbean League and caters to their Camelot But Novatech clearly kept the media spectacle in mind. Not
station and satellite network needs. While not optimal for only is the Whipple sleek and shiny, it has a paint-job with rac-
orbital launches, Novatech also owns an aerospace facility in ing stripes. All class. Judging by the specs, it’s also carrying the
Woomera, Australia, which a little hacker tells me is their test most sophisticated sensor array.
bed for a new spaceplane prototype.
Proteus
> Sea platforms, eh? That’s an automatic first line of defense— One of the few AA corps to play in the probe race sandbox,
any attempt at infiltration or attack will have to come by sea Proteus keeps their space-related schemes close to their chest. It
or air. was only last month that some of my pals broke the news on the
station they’ve been secretly building at the L1 LaGrange point,
> Long John which is nearly operational. The only publicized launch pad used
> Novatech has their air defenses sown up tight. They’ll scram- by the corp is off of their partially-submerged arkoblock near
ble fighter jets to intercept any bogies that threaten Devil’s Island, French Guiana. According to some material post-
ed on Asgard, they have another sea launch site currently
under construction off the coast of Ecuador to take maxi-
mal advantage of equatorial launches.
E DESTROYED!
SAEDER-KRUPP COMET PROB > I was inside another one of Proteus’ arkoblocks—I won’t
Posted: 5-29-61 say which one—when I came across a whole section of
of Ares, issued a public apolo-
Detroit (NN)—Damien Knight, the CEO the structure clearly designed to construct and possibly
the accid ental destruction of Saeder-
gy today to Saeder-Krupp for launch rockets. I thought it was some military function at
cio probe, which Saeder-Krupp
Krupp’s Duccio space probe. The Duc
investigation, was destroyed just a first, to defend against attacks, but now I’m thinking it
hoped to land on the comet for direct
ed into a “test zone” used by Ares for may have been a secret spacelaunch site.
few hours after launch when it stray
Ares officials, they were conduct- > Owen
orbital weapons checks. According to
weapons array that fired into a
ing a routine test of an anti-satellite laser Proteus still hasn’t announced that they were drop-
they were unaware of the Duccio’s
deep space safety zone. Ares claims ping their hat into the probe race ring, but I‘ll bet you
er-K rupp had kept the craft’s launch and tra-
presence in the zone, as Saed my Spindle docking pass that they have something in
jectory under wraps. the works. The buzz in orbit says that they’re going to
er-Krupp petitioned the
Immediately after the incident, Saed be launching a probe from their L1 station, but nobody
ing that Ares intentionally shot down
Corporate Court for redress, claim knows for sure. I wouldn’t be surprised if they announce
Ares issued a public apology and
their probe as an act of aggression. clear out of the black that their probe has arrived at the
in compensation for the incident.
offered an undisclosed financial sum comet and that they’ve won the race.
refus ed the settlement, the Corporate
Though Saeder-Krupp initially
ed the agreement as a resolution to
Court ruled in favor of Ares and back > I’ve heard that Proteus has a probe called the
the affair. Götterbote under construction at their French Guiana
facility. Some snotty telemetry know-it-all named

Heinrich Hausmann is running the pro-
ject. He’s worth his weight in platinum if
anyone has the guts to extract him.
> Blackbird
Shiawase
Shiawase is a relative small timer in
the aerospace field, with a correspond-
ingly small presence in space. They
shove their rockets into orbit from
Normanton, Australia, on the Cape York
Peninsula. Many of their launches are
commercial ventures, allowing univer-
sities and smaller corporations to climb
into orbit without having to construct
their own launch pad. They also boost a
lot of rockets into equatorial orbit from
the San Marco launch pad, a former
Italian launch facility built on a convert-
ed oil platform off the Kenyan coast.
Though Shiawase doesn’t have
much in the way of orbital hardware,
they do have a rather successful
research and development depart-
ment. Based out of Cairns, about five
hundred kilometers east of Normanton,
this subsidiary is responsible for many
recent breakthroughs in propulsion
technology, both for launch vehicles
and powered satellites and probes. In
fact, Shiawase’s comet probe, the
Brahe, was designed at Cairns. It con-
tains some high-tech features that will
give it an edge over its competition,
including proprietary nanotechnology
that gives it a significant fuel advantage
and a significantly reduced mass (the
Brahe probe is less than half the mass of
Ares’ Gigas).
> I was digging around a Shiawase sys-

tem, and I found plans for a probe
named the Brahe. Get this, though—it’s
a manned probe, not the small thing
that Shiawase keeps advertising. What
gives?
corps discarded a manned visit as too expensive, but Shiawase
> Snarf must view the benefits as worth it.
> Maybe they actually have two probes, both named Brahe to > Ad Astra
confuse the competition. Shibata Construction and Engineering
> Tricky Shibata, like Proteus, is one of the few companies of less
then AAA rating to have sizeable space assets. Originally
> If Shiawase lands a manned probe on the comet, they’ll focused on architecture and mass-scale dwelling construction,
score a major public relations coup. Even if they get to the Shibata recently expanded into the aerospace field and habitat
comet after another probe, or catch it on the second pass, maintenance. The corp’s big break came when Aztechnology
they’ll steal the thunder. Smart thinking on their part. Most other contracted them to run the Spindle, an Aztechnology habitat

that has been limping around in orbit since it suffered severe Federated Boeing. The probe is being manufactured on the
failures back in 2050 and had to be partly evacuated. Shibata is ground, but is scheduled to launch from the Spindle. The
now in the process of shoring the station up and handles most Kepler is actually a carrier for a number of smaller drones that
of its operations. will be released to land on the comet and transmit data back to
As a side benefit to the Spindle agreement, Shibata was the probe, which will then relay it to Earth.
also given an exclusive contract to run the Aztechnology
launch center near La Paz. It also owns the Jiuquan launch pad > Aztechnology is attempting to use this joint project as a sign
that was China’s first satellite launch center, though this facility of good will to boost its application to join the Pacific Prosperity
is still under extensive renovation. Most of the corp’s service Group. In my opinion, the two PPG corps are taking advantage
and supply boosts are made from Aztlan, while the Jiuquan of Aztechnology’s hopes, and have no intention of letting the
pad handles satellite and other launches. Azzies into their corp clique.
Shibata’s little probe wonder is named the Kepler and is
actually a joint project between Shibata, Aztechnology and
> Snow Tiger
Yamatetsu
Yamatetsu is making a comeback in the space
arena, after spending too much time focusing on their
PROBE LAUNCH FAILS undersea efforts. The corp is finally taking full advantage
of their Svobodniy Cosmodrome, purchased from the
Posted 06-11-01 Russkies just after the corp relocated to Vladivostok.
considered by many to be the
Atlanta (HTB)—The Kepler probe, Launches from the site have increased significantly in
” to reach Halley’s Comet, suf-
underdog in the corporate “probe race the past year, approaching once a week. Large num-
when a tragic fire destroyed the
fered a severe setback this morning bers of these launches have been nothing but tests,
e. Less than an hour before the
launch engines and damaged the prob apparently experimenting with various prototype
the Spin dle orbital habitat, a fuel line
probe’s intended launch from launch craft (too expensive to play around with before
ed, causing a small explosion.
ruptured, leaking accelerantthat ignit Yamatetsu bought the site), but quite a few have been
gled from the launch engines,
The Kepler probe was quickly disentan satellite boosts or regular runs to their Shibanokuji
nt dam age to its sensor and teleme-
but had already suffered significa orbital resort.
try systems.
, Shibata Construction and
A joint project between Aztechnology > The Cosmodrome is a city unto itself, with a total pop-
offic ials stated that the Kepler is
Engineering and Federated Boeing,
launched in time to surveil the ulation exceeding ten thousand. The facilities include a
repairable, but would not be able to be
h. The Kepler will be scheduled propellant farm, training center, communications cen-
comet on its first pass near the Eart
cepting the comet on its sec- ter, tracking station, airport, hospital and housing, as well
for a new launch later in the year, inter
as recreation for the Yamatetsu and Russian citizens.
ond pass.
> Suzuki
Yamatetsu’s gift to the comet is a probe they call
Gagarin—guess who’s nationalistic sentiments that
one plays to. The Gagarin is already on the way, tak-
ing a roundabout route around Venus, using the plan-
PROBE HIJACKED! et’s gravity well to slingshot the craft for a quick inter-
Posted 06-18-01 ception of the comet and then back to Earth.
Cairns (NN)—A comet-worshipping Yamatetsu won’t publicize their rendezvous date, so
terrorist cell identified as the they may even beat Ares’ Velox probes. The
Cataclysts seized control of a semiballi
stic that was intended to carry Gagarin’s course will take it to within 10 kilometers of
Shiawase’s Brahe probe into orbit earli
er today, shortly before launch. the comet, though Yamatetsu hasn’t revealed what
The cultists infiltrated Shiawase’s Norm
anton launch site, killing the craft’s sensor and analysis capabilities are.
the crew and commandeering control
of the vessel. Despite a security
attempt to avert the takeoff, the Cata
clyst cell launched the semibal-
listic towards orbit. A devastating expl
osion halted the spaceplane’s
> In the wake of the probe race, Yamatetsu has also
climb, destroying the probe and all onbo announced plans for manned missions to Mars and
ard.
The Cataclysts issued a press relea long term plans for a mission to Europa, an ice covered
se, claiming that the cell
intended to accompany the probe to the moon orbiting Jupiter. Europa is theorized as a possible
comet, but that Shiawase shot
the craft down with a surface-to-air genesis spot for life forms.
missile. Shiawase refuted this
claim, pointing out that the probe was > Dave
incapable of carrying passen-
gers and reporting that the terrorists
employed a bomb to destroy the
probe and commit suicide. Runner Ups
Only three other corps can be counted as launch pad
operators and potential probe race contenders: Hisato-

Turner, Trans-Orbital and Federated Boeing. As I already men- have started a high-pressure bidding war to convince the
tioned, Fed Boeing threw their lots in with Shibata and National Supreme Soviet to give it up. Spain still has Gran
Aztechnology; I guess there’s no accounting for taste. If they Canaria, India still has Sriharikota and even Amazonia keeps
had the desire, Boeing could have done it themselves from the Alcantra site active.
their aptly named Sea Launch platform, a mobile, seagoing, Most of these nation-owned pads are used to maintain satel-
former-oil rig launch pad that is berthed near Christmas Island lite networks and spycraft, but they also serve as moneymakers. A
or wherever they drag it in the Indian Ocean or Pacific. lot of corps prefer to contract with an actual country for their orbital
Both Trans-Orbital and Hisato-Turner have publicly
conceded the probe race to the competition, following
a suspicious string of “accidents” and unexplained
problems that pushed their prospective launch dates
back to the end of the year. Both corps are still toiling ARES GIGAS PROBE STRUCK
away on their probes with forced smiles, but unless BY METEOR!
everyone gets knocked out of the running on the Posted 07-12-61
comet’s first pass, these projects will remain on the Houston (AP)—Ares announced today that their costly comet
backburner and will probably be discontinued. probe, the Gigas, was struck by a meteorite, coming within inches
For the record, Hisato-Turner operates the of destruction. The meteorite wreaked havoc in the probe’s guid-
Tanegashima launch facility, which happens to be ance systems and knocked it off course. Ares officials have said that
Japan’s main launch site. That role earns them major they are adjusting the probe’s trajectory to account for the distur-
prestige, not to mention nuyen from subcontracting, bance the impact has caused and will be on track for an intercept of
but it also makes them a major target in the compet- Halley’s Comet later this year. Ares attributes the probe’s survival
itive Japanese corporate sphere. Trans-Orbital’s to the two inches of polyamide armor in the front dust shield.
booster pad and spaceplane strip is down on This news follows only a week after Ares announced that the
Matagorda Island—one of the first commercial launch launch of both of its backup probes, Velox I and Velox II would be
vehicle sites in the world. They operate a clean, delayed until December 2061 due to “necessary adjustments” that
streamlined business with recently expanded facili- needed to be made to the probes designs.
ties and upgraded security. Though Ares expects all three of its probes to successfully reach
Halley’s Comet during its second pass by the Earth in 2062, Ares is
> I’ve taken a ride into orbit with Trans-Orbital, and their now unlikely to win the heavily publicized “probe race.”
staff is as sweet and accommodating as their security
scanners are unobtrusive. But watch out for their sec
guards—most of ’em are Jersey gutterboys with thick
accents transplanted from the sprawl and plugged full of
chrome. Nasty fraggers. NOVATECH PROBE LOST
> Big Tony Posted 08-11-61
Boston (IIN)—Sources within Novatec
h confirmed today that the
> I hear that the Atlantean Foundation plunked down a Whipple space probe veered drastical
ly off course yesterday and
wad of cred to finance the Trans-Orbital probe (they’re will miss its rendezvous with Halley’s
Comet. The course change
kicking themselves now, I bet). Anyone know what the is the result of a programming erro
r that occurred via telemetry,
AF is hoping to find? (Please refrain from telling me that ordering the probe to conduct an attitu
de burn that used most of its
the comet is carrying relics of lost Atlantis—I’d like hard remaining fuel. Unconfirmed repo
rts claim that the damaging
data, thank you.) orders were the result of computer sabo
tage by a rival corporation.
> Short Round Novatech sources denied this claim
, attributing the tragedy to a
“glitch.”
The Whipple’s new course will
> Ask yourself this question: Why else would archaeolo- towards an eventual collision with
take it around the sun
gists be looking into space? the planet Mars in 2064. The
Novatech sources stated that there
> Planetary was no hope of switching the
Whipple’s course to bypass Halley’s
Comet, even on its second
A few of the old nation-states—y’know, those pass near the Earth next year. This tragi
c event removes Novatech
bureaucratic ghosts that pretend to run things and as a contender in the probe race, thou
gh the corporation does have
keep the corps in line—still own and operate their plans to launch a new probe by the
end of the year.
launch facilities, though the list grows smaller every This news also leaves Yamatetsu’s Gag
arin probe as the only
day. Israel has a launch site in Palmachim, and Imperial remaining contender able to reach Hall
ey’s Comet on its first pass.
Japan still shoots up satellites from their Kagoshima
pad. The Russians kept ahold of their Plesetsk
Cosmodrome, though Yamatetsu and Saeder-Krupp

needs, despite the higher rates, rather than put their hot
tech in the hands of a competitor corp. Nation-state
launch pads are usually guarded with military assets, and
YAMATETSU LOSES CONTACT so may even boast better security than some corps. The
drawback is that the service is lousier, accidents are more
WITH GAGARIN common, and often the government is so corrupt that a
Posted 08-30-61 rival corp can easily create complications anyway.
Shibanokuji (NN)—Just moments before Yamatetsu’s Gagarin probe None of the nations jumped into the probe race—
was to intercept Halley’s Comet, telemetry specialists lost contact they all have more serious issues like overpopulation,
with the probe, stunning millions of viewers around the globe. pollution and rampant poverty and crime to worry about.
As the last remaining contender in the much-publicized “probe If the first round of the probe race doesn’t provide any
race,” the Gagarin’s full sensor suite was set to activate upon coming winners, however, one of them may be coerced into a
within 500 kilometers of the comet. Expecting to see the first close-up joint project with an under-the-radar aerospace corp.
pictures and readings transmitted by the Gagarin, people around the Stranger things have happened, and will again.
world subscribed to Yamatetsu’s “live” Matrix feeds, only to be disap-
pointed when no images came through. PROBE RUNNING
The event was a public relations disaster for Yamatetsu, and the With a competition of this sort, where every-
corporation is offering discounted rates on other Matrix feeds and its one’s fighting for the same piece of pie in the sky, the
MetaMatrix service as compensation to its disgruntled customers. megas are stopping at nothing short of outright cor-
Meanwhile, Yamatetsu scientists are working feverishly to regain con- porate warfare to beat their competitors.
tact with the probe. Despite the likelihood that the probe met an Shadowrunners will find their skills in demand as the
untimely end as the result of an equipment failure, micrometeorite col- corps start final preparations to launch their probes.
lision or sabotage, Yamatetsu remains hopeful that the communication Stopping or delaying a competitor, even by a few
break is temporary and that contact will be re-established. days, can make all the difference. Each corporation
doesn’t want to beat their competitors by much, they
just want to beat them.

So what sorts of jobs will be out there? Here’s a short run- An oblique way of delaying a probe launch would be to
down of opportunities that I see likely. In fact, if you’re really interfere with the production or shipment of equipment or
hard up for cred, you can probably devise your own plan and parts that are necessary either for the launch or for the probe
market it to Corp X. With a race this hot, the corps are likely itself. Even more subtly, critical supplies can be replaced with
to take any potential advantages that present themselves. tainted ones, leading to a breakdown or failure far down the
line (perhaps even after the probe is launched), assuming the
Information Gathering faulty parts pass inspection. This option is good, as crucial
The most common shadow op in this period will be sim- supplies are usually not as securely protected as the probe or
ple intel. Two types of probe paydata are at top value: SOTA launch site itself.
tech and compromising data. The contents, sensor schemat- If options are limited, a straightforward raid to damage
ics and other details of a probe’s payload are quite useful to the probe or launch vehicle may be the way to go. There may
a competitor trying to one-up the other. Likewise, info relat- be other vulnerable systems that are critical to the launch,
ing to launch schedules, project personnel and launch pad such as computer and Matrix systems, control centers, fuel
security will assist a rival in taking his competition out com- containers, telemetry dishes, satellite relays and so forth. This
pletely, or at least slowing them down. Most of these details type of run is the most dangerous, as it pits the runners
can be acquired through Matrix system raids or prolonged against the strongest area of security. If the probe is being
surveillance, though this may require onsite penetration launched from an orbital station, the likelihood of success
given current security standards. There is always more than becomes even smaller.
one way to skin a devil rat, though, and personnel are vul-
nerable to blackmail or intimidation. > The good news is that failing on a run of this type may be
acceptable as well. A breach of security, even if it fails to
Hindrance damage its objective, will nearly always delay the launch
For those who like greater risks and greater rewards, while safety checks are performed again to make sure that
shadowruns aimed at delaying or destroying a rival probe are no damage was done.
the way to go. Luckily, probe launches are complicated
affairs, with a long chain of personnel and logistical affairs
> Argent
that can be exploited. Given the high security of most launch
Defensive
facilities and top science labs, subterfuge and infiltration are
Given the importance of the probe race and the minds,
the most likely strategies to succeed in derailing a launch and
materials and profits involved, security is bound to be strict.
ensuring that you can at least limp away afterwards.
Though it is unlikely that outsiders would be contracted to
The kidnapping or assassination of key personnel is a
guard a probe or launch site, a corp that finds itself under
more subtle and survivable approach than attempting to
extreme duress from its competition may bite the bullet and
damage onsite facilities. The disappearance of a corp’s lead
hire shadowrunners to protect non-key personnel, Matrix sys-
probe engineer, telemetry specialist or sensor-array designer
tems or gear.
can delay or even irrevocably halt a launch, or possibly keep
Shadowrunners are likely to be hired for a more proac-
the probe from ever being completed. Acquiring a rival’s
tive defensive stance—in other words, hunting down and
chief astrophysicist not only denies the targeted corporation
eliminating potential threats. With all of the cult activity
the chance to use the skills of the employee, but also gives
spawned by the comet, freaks who can infiltrate, spy on and
the new company access to the technical specifications and
divert potential fanatics are in demand. Shadowrunners can
other secrets of their rival.
also be used to spy on, warn off or take out policlubbers,
other shadowrunners or anyone else who doesn’t happen to
> An actual extraction isn’t necessary if you can get to the tar-
get through blackmail or threats upon their friends and family.
like the corp in question.
If there’s any way a corp can use shadowrunners for its
This gives the subverted staff member the chance to delay or
dirty work and keep the blood and grime off its hands, it will.
halt the launch internally. If done successfully, the target cor-
Sadly, most of us will jump at the chance to do so.
poration will not even know that security has been breached.
> Mongoose

SURGE
[Begin Log : Meta Affairs SIG : 9 September 2061 at 21:23:04 PST]
> Welcome to the Meta Affairs SIG, an open discussion of issues relating to metahumanity and
race relations.
> MA SIG Bot
> Hey, check this out.

> Kobold
//Begin File Attachment//
DOUBLE GOBLINIZATION?
Posted 09-06-61
ATLANTA (HTB)—Officials at St. Mary’s Hospital confirmed tonight that an unidentified male
troll admitted last night seems to have undergone a second phase of Goblinization. According
to reports, the troll was brought in off the street after bystanders called the police. “He was
screaming like his insides were being shredded, and we could see his facial bones reshaping
themselves under his skin—it was horrible!” said one eyewitness. “I though at first he was
under attack by a spell, or maybe a spirit. But I assensed him and saw that it was some sort of
somatic transmogrification,” said a licensed mage on the scene who declined to give his name.
Hospital officials refused to comment on the troll’s transformation, stating only that he
appeared to have undergone a “recessive phase of his previous Goblinization.” They flatly
denied rumors that the troll had been infected by some sort of disease, claiming that “his
body was simply finishing the process it apparently had not finished before.”
//End File Attachment//
> Sounds pretty sketchy to me. Has anyone ever heard of an incomplete Goblinization before?
> Kobold
> No, but it’s theoretically possible. Whenever you deal with genetics on a mass scale, there’s
bound to be a few mutants who don’t quite turn out the same.
> Lela

> Oh man, I think I’ll go get me a checkup tomorrow. The last of reports that dozens of individuals within Seattle—and hun-
thing I need is to finish Goblinizing halfway through a shad- dreds more throughout the world—have undergone an unex-
owrun—or worse yet, a hot date. plained metamorphosis.
“This is not a disease. This is not a virus. It is not conta-
> Grimsley gious,” said Dr. Fonda Peters, the head of City Health and
Group Medical. “What we are facing here is a potential new
> I always knew you were only half the ork you could be, Grims. wave of Goblinization, similar to four decades ago. The victims
> Siouxzi of these changes are not a threat to public health or safety.”
Dr. Peters went on to describe what medical attention should
> That news report doesn’t sit well with me. How could you only be given to those undergoing transformation. She refused to
half-transform into a troll? Wouldn’t the docs have noticed answer questions about what exactly the documented indi-
something wasn’t right the first time? My bet is that the poor slag viduals are transforming into.
was a corp guinea pig of some kind who escaped from the lab Less than an hour after the announcement, Jasper
and made it into the news before it was covered up. They were Squashright of the Ork Rights Commission (ORC) blasted Dr.
probably testing some scary kind of nanotech on him. Peters for slandering those affected by this new wave of trans-
> Encino formations. “These people are not ‘victims’ and to call them
that is an insult to metahumans everywhere. An ork is not a
> Scan this. I was bored, so I decided to hack St. Mary’s files and victim because he transformed into an ork, and these new
see what the scoop was. I had to scramble quick, because the changelings are not victims either—there should be no shame
CDC had put a lock on his files—that’s right, the Center for
applied to the change they have gone through. We demand an
immediate apology from Dr. Peters, whose slanders has fueled
Disease Control. There are half a dozen brands of CAS spooks run-
the fires of racial intolerance.”
ning around that hospital right now, so something’s definitely not
right. I did manage to pilfer his files, chock full of juicy tidbits. First,
our troll friend is only 20 years old. That’s right, he never Goblinized
> It looks like we are seeing the birth of a new species. Anyone
at all—he was born a troll to proud, healthy troll parents. Second,
have any idea what this new race is?
up to now he had a clean bill of health. No diseases, no health
> Kobold
problems, no genetic defects. He wasn’t a half-troll or anything
whack like that, he was as troll as they come. Third, his transfor- > Don’t jump to conclusions. From the reports I’ve seen the
mation is kinda scary. He seems to have shed his horns, grown a transformations have varied wildly. Some people have simply
snout and developed a thick pelt of fur. Weird drek, neh? grown horns or pointed ears, while others have suffered weird-
> Grid Reaper er changes like scales—or the guy in Calcutta who grew a
third eye. We may be looking at a whole slew of new
> This whole troll thing has got to be a prank. You breeder slags metatypes here!
are all just pulling my leg. > Swarm
> Bull
“The Best Ork Decker You Never Met” > I don’t know, the numbers just don’t add up. Despite the
hype, vary few people in the world have gone through a meta-
> I wouldn’t sweat it. Whoever that troll is, he’s an abnormality, morphosis. Judging by the hype, you’d think a quarter of
a genetic throwback maybe. Whatever’s affecting him isn’t Seattle had turned green and fuzzy, but as far as I can tell
going to affect anyone else, because it’s obviously caused by there’s been less than ten cases in the city (so far). Unless this
his genes. wave is off to a slow start, there’s simply not going to be
> Lingua Chef enough of each new variant to constitute a bunch of new
metatypes.
[End Log]
> The Smiling Bandit
[Begin Log : Meta Affairs SIG : 10 September 2061 at 21:48:11 PST]
Strikes Again! Ha Ha Ha!
> Hey, remember the news about that troll I posted a few days
back? Remember saying it was nothing I should worry about? > So you’re saying that this new wave of Goblinization isn’t cre-
Bite your tongue. ating a new race, that it’s simply creating a bunch of offshoots,
mutants and freaks?
> Kobold
> Lynch
HUNDREDS TRANSFORM—NEW WAVE OF GOBLINIZATION? > In a word, yes.
Posted 09-10-61 > The Smiling Bandit
SEATTLE (AP)—Public health officials urged calm this evening, Strikes Again! Ha Ha Ha!
seeking to quell rampant rumors and speculation in the wake

> Some of you old-timers may remember what it was like when //Begin File Attachment//
Goblinization first struck. You might remember the fear, the RIOTS ENGULF SPRAWL
panic, the hatred, and all the chaos that followed. I know this Posted 09-13-61
isn’t a news flash, but it needs to be said—we’re still suffering
SEATTLE (IIN)—Lone Star is urging everyone to stay indoors
and off the streets this morning following a night of riots and
from the legacy of that period. Remember the Nights of Rage?
violence across the Seattle Metroplex. Several fires set by riot-
How could you not? Even though the turmoil has boiled down,
ers are still burning out of control, and Lone Star riot squads
even though orks and trolls have established their own commu-
are herding crowds of looters off the street.
nities, earning a certain level of respect and tolerance, the Governor Lindstrom declared a State of Emergency at 3
world has still not fully accepted them. This news does not bode AM, calling out troops from Ft. Lewis to help contain the vio-
well. lence and pacify the city. Officials close to the Governor claim
> MOM that martial law will be put into effect if the rioting does not
abate, and a curfew is expected to be imposed over the city this
> Frag, how can you slags sit and discuss this so calmly? In my evening. Dozens of other cities throughout the world experi-
neighborhood, people are freaking out! Everyone’s talking enced similar levels of violence, sparked by a reported new
about the new plague that turns you into a goblin, and some wave of Goblinization that scientists are calling Sudden
folks are saying some corporate biowarfare retrovirus has final- Recessive Genetic Expression, or SURGE.
ly gotten loose and is turning people into slobbering monsters. The violence began last night outside of Seattle General
Gangs are barricading off the streets, people are holing up Hospital, where a massive crowd had gathered to lay siege, to
with canned food and guns or trying to flee town. And some
demonstrate against the hospital’s care of SURGE-affected
“changelings.” When a young man who had recently
poor ork just got the drek kicked out of him by a bunch of
expressed hooves and a series of painful rashes all over his
breeders who called him a “plague carrier.” We’re heading
body was brought out of an ambulance, the crowd attacked,
straight towards a new Night of Rage!
overwhelming hospital security. The mob was eventually
> Brick repulsed, but not before significant damage had been done to
the hospital, including several fires set by Molotov cocktails.
> Hmm, sounds like Lone Star will be busy tonight. I might take The mob then spread throughout the downtown area, smash-
a little impromptu run this evening while everyone’s distracted. ing windows, overturning cars and attacking metahumans.
> HoodRat As news reports hit the wire, similar violence erupted in
other neighborhoods across the Metroplex. Several metahu-
> Good luck. Every compound I know of is on high alert or lock- man groups and gangs responded to the racial attacks by orga-
down. A storm cloud of tension is hanging over the city. nizing their own militias, sometimes attacking humans in retal-
> Night Owl iation. Lone Star is under heavy criticism for their handling of
the riots, as officers were initially overwhelmed and unable to
contain the violence.
> A Humanis drone just buzzed my block with leaflets, calling on
the populace to round up any “mutants” and lock them up //End File Attachment//
before they spread their “disease.” They strongly imply that any
meta could be a mutant waiting to erupt. Fraggin’ racist scum. > And so it begins again.
> Brick > Rohit
[End Log]
> I’m down at Seattle General Hospital. So far we’ve had 5 WAKE UP CALL
changelings admitted—not nearly the “plague” or “cata-
clysm” I kept hearing about in chat rooms and message
> The world is still settling down after this little thing called
SURGE shook it up and spun it around—the violence is still
boards. But there’s a growing crowd outside the hospital
going full tilt in some areas. Amidst all the speculation and high
chanting and carrying signs like “Take the Mutants Away” and
emotions, this little piece of calming rationality caught my
“Keep Our City Clean.” I have a feeling things are going to get
attention. It’s a statement written by none other than Ehran
ugly.
the Scribe for free distribution on the Matrix, issued to the news-
> Code Red nets by the Dunkelzahn Institute of Magical Research. Though
[End Log] Shadowland is not normally in the business of posting informa-
[Begin Log : Meta Affairs SIG : 13 September 2061 at 09:06:01 PST] tion you can get just about anywhere on the Matrix, we felt this
particular material might be useful in both understanding
> What a night! I can still see smoke from the fires in Redmond what’s been going on lately and the sort of response people
and downtown. There’s so much glass and debris in the road like Ehran are expecting.
that I wouldn’t recommend taking a vehicle out unless you’ve Since the file is fairly short, I’ve made this one a read-only.
got runflat tires. Here’s the latest. You can talk about the implications over in the appropriate SIG.
> Kobold
> Capt. Chaos Expression—and the media has quickly and predictably
Transmitted: 14 September 2061 at 14: 52:06 (PST) dubbed “the SURGE”—is part of a natural process. Just as cer-
tain metahuman genes expressed in the presence of a partic-
I am not a morning person. I do not spring out of bed, ular concentration of mana, so have other latent traits
fresh and ready to face a new day. I linger, clinging to sleep as expressed in the presence of ongoing changes in the manas-
long as I am able. I prefer the night to morning, and I have seen phere, the ongoing process of Awakening. These changes are
far more sunsets than I have sunrises. I enjoy the simple plea- natural and normal.
sure of lounging comfortably on the edge of sleep, reluctant to The “changelings” that have emerged in the wake of this
leave behind the world of dreams. At my age, I prefer to sleep expression are no different than the metahumans who
in when I can, which—I am sad to say—is all too rare these emerged forty or fifty years earlier. Except, I hope they will
days. Waking, for me, is a slow and gradual process, one that not have to suffer the same persecution and misunderstand-
should not be rushed or else I can be most unpleasant for the ing we encountered when we first showed our true faces to
remainder of the day. the world. They are not diseased. They are not “mutants.”
The world is also not a morning person. People say in They are not cursed. They are your brothers and sisters, your
2011 the world “Awakened.” I say Mother Earth roused her- parents, your children, your friends. There is nothing to fear
self, yawned, stretched, and rolled over to lounge about for a from them. Before you condemn, consider what traits might
while longer, just another fifty years or so. Now, she has roused lie hidden within you, and remember the Awakening is far
herself again, yawned a bit more, stretched tired and neglect- from over.
ed muscles, but she is still not out of bed yet. We have a while This is a time of change. What is needed now is not fear
to go before she has truly awakened. and ignorance, but compassion and knowledge. Dispel your
The analogy above is somewhat crude, but accurate. fear and replace ignorance with understanding. It is said those
People thus far have tended to think of the Awakening as a who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and I
simple on/off process. One day there was no magic and then, have learned that lesson better than most. I ask you to learn
POOF!, along comes Yule, 2011, and magic exists. “The world from these past fifty years so we will not repeat our mistakes.
has changed,” people say. “It has Awakened.” This is a narrow Do not let there be another Night of Rage. Do not let another
and flawed view of the far more complex process of the generation suffer from ignorance and mistrust.
Awakening. This, in fact, is the key point. The Awakening is not
an event—it is a process, a series of events. It is a cycle with no SCIENCE OF THE SURGE
beginning and no end. While there are certain events in the > Lo and behold, a new wave of change has swept our
process we can point to as pivotal—signposts along the road world, for better or for worse. Though its impact is measurably
telling us how far we have come—we should not confuse these different and less substantial than Goblinization, the hype
signs for the road itself, or the journey. and hatred that accompanied its appearance have inflict-
Take Goblinization, for example. Goblinization Day took
ed their toll. Those who have undergone the transformation
place some ten years after the Awakening, when orks and
have suffered the same prejudices and xenophobia that orks
trolls threw off their human guises and returned to their place
and trolls endured and continue to combat. The spectacle
in the world. Paranaturalists can point to at least a dozen
known “Goblinization” dates for species other than Homo and riots that followed only played further into the atmos-
sapiens, where different animal species changed, or began phere of hysteria and impending doom accompanying our
giving birth to a paranormal sub-species of their own. Even favorite little space rock.
among Homo sapiens there are different dates for the return In order to cover SURGE completely and from opposing
of elves and dwarfs in 2011, and the appearance of orks and angles, I’ve pulled pieces from a variety of reliable and not so
trolls in 2021. reliable sources. The first item, snagged from Yamatetsu, gives
These events all took place after the date assigned to the the scientific lowdown on SURGE. I felt it was best to start with the
Awakening, some of them as recently as a few years ago (since dirty facts before we dove into the mudslinging and hyperbole,
new paranormal species are being discovered on a regular and for once a corporate perspective actually tells it like it is.
basis). They have all been signs that the Awakening is far from > Captain Chaos
over. But most people refuse to realize this. They consider Transmitted: 23 September 2061 at 11:14:51 (PST)
Goblinization a separate event, something apart from the
events of 2011, rather than seeing the whole, unbroken pattern To: Yuri Shibanokuji, Chairman Yamatetsu
these events form. From: Dr. Alexi Urbanowski, Director Genetic Research,
The Awakening has not ended. In fact, it has hardly begun. Pensodyne
We are only fifty years into a process that lasts for millennia, a Date: September 22, 2061
cycle longer than recorded history. This year is only a taste of Re: Status Report on SURGE Investigation Project
the future, another small step on a long and winding path. A
path fraught with both wonder and danger. OVERVIEW
What exactly is the step we’ve taken, many of you may The metamorphosis that the scientific community has
ask. What scientists called Sudden Recessive Genetic dubbed SURGE is an expression of meta or magical traits from

formerly inactive and genetically recessive polypeptide chains. > Ichthyus traits? Does he mean fish-people?
This causes a sudden and often violent transformation within
> Winger
the subject similar to the Goblinization characteristics of early
ork and troll expression. Despite earlier claims and reports, the
actual percentage of SURGE in the general populace seems to
> Kinda. He means people that exhibit certain fish-like charac-
teristics. I believe that the case the doctor is referencing is that
be significantly lower than the ratio of Goblinization. Data sug-
of Nathan Saunders, a SURGE “changeling” who developed
gests that less than 1 in 100 have the necessary genetic traits—
mildly webbed hands and functional gills while retaining a
though our figures have a significant margin of error due to the
uncertainties involving metagenetics. human appearance. Unfortunately, Nathan seems to require
The first documented case of SURGE occurred September near constant immersion or he suffers from severe dry skin,
4, 2061, with a few more isolated and minor cases in the week causing dermal bleeding in less than an hour. Never something
that followed. The bulk of SURGE transformations began on for nothing, eh chummer?
September 10, 2061, when over two hundred cases were > Jack Q
reported around the world. The SURGE phenomenon has con-
tinued at a regular pace ever since, though based on the cur- Class Three SURGE is categorized by the expression of
rent rate of expression the ratio should reach half our projec- mutated or otherwise unknown genetics, sometimes leading to
tion by January 1, 2062. I find it very likely that SURGE will fol- the termination of the case. Theoretically, Class Three changes
low the bell-curve pattern of previous metagenetic expres- could encompass any metamorphosis, though experience
sions. Assuming this is true and that our projections are cor- leads us to believe that a single physiological change is more
rect, SURGE should slow to a trickle by August or September likely to occur than a drastic transformation of multiple fea-
of 2062. tures. Examples have included the loss of all body hair, unusu-
To date, our reports indicate that SURGE transformations al skin pigmentation and even one case which developed an
have occurred with even regularity around the globe. extra knuckle on two fingers of each hand.
Admittedly, the collation of such data is still underway, and In each class of SURGE there is evidence that the genome
certain Third World and isolationist countries such as Tir has been altered through the passage of time. While meta-
Tairngire have been withholding data. genes are stable during periods where the ambient level of
Before continuing, I must state that much of this memo, mana has risen above a certain threshold and are copied unal-
like a great deal of metagenetic theory, is hypothesis. While tered during gamete production, it might be possible for the
the mundane segments of the metahuman genome have been coding to be altered by standard mutational effects or chance
accurately mapped, a wide range of metagenetic traits have during a time when the metagenes were inactive.
not yet been pinned down with authority. The recessive traits
responsible for SURGE fall into this uncharted territory, and our > Huh? All the words are English—I checked—but they don’t
conclusions about them so far may turn out to be radically make any sense when you put them together.
wrong in the near future. > Winger
CLASSIFYING SURGE > Translation: The genes responsible for metahuman traits and
SURGE is linked to a number of polypeptide chains associ- magical ability were around before the Awakening, and they
ated with a wide range of documented and speculative meta- were just as vulnerable to breaking down and mutating (thanks
traits. Examination of these chains has resulted in three differ- to radiation, chance error, inbreeding or whatever) as normal
ent classifications. genes are. So it’s highly possible that SURGE is merely the
Class One SURGE is attributed to polypeptide chains that expression of mutated metagenes.
bear a strong resemblance to polypeptide chains that have
already been associated with specific metagenes. These new > Tanaka
chains, however, appear to be incomplete or fractional pieces
of the originals. We believe this to be the direct cause of the > So SURGE victims are mutant freaks? Yet more evidence that
partial genetic expression of certain metatraits already exhibit- these aberrations need to be rounded up before they infect—
ed by metahumans and the Awakened. Examples of Class One .8 Mp deleted by SysOp.
SURGE include pointed ears, tusks, horns, or the ability to per- > Curtis
ceive the astral world.
Class Two SURGE is believed to be caused by the activation > Sorry, you’ll have to organize your lynch mob on another SIG.
of ancient polypeptide chains, leftovers from an earlier stage of Keep it civil.
genetic development. The exact method by which these chains > Captain Chaos
are expressed is uncertain as we have found no markers to date. “I am everywhere!”
The expression of these traits causes development of fur or tails,
vertically slotted eyes or even fully functional gills. These traits, Most of the mutational effects upon human genetics have
like those of Class One, tend to follow a single pattern such as remained in a constant state for the duration of geological
the expression of canine or ichthyus traits. time. The advancement and abuse of technology over the past

few centuries, however, and the biochemical food processing, mon to the sprawl—a fact which quickly poisoned him to death.
radiation, depleted ozone and environmental pollution that > Tanaka
resulted have created an environment of mutational advan-
tage. The increased strength of these mutational effects may POSSIBLE CAUSES OF SURGE
have overcome the tenacity of the meta-bonds in the human That SURGE is currently an ongoing phenomenon is with-
genome, and occasionally fractured them to create the tapes- out doubt, but causation is still in question. There have been
try that is the SURGE. many alleged catalysts bandied about both in the press and the
scientific community. A great number of these relate to the
> Ah, poetic justice. After hearing for years how biotechnology coincidental timing of SURGE with the initial naked-eye view-
will save the world, how genetically modified food is good for ing of Halley’s Comet, as well as the fiftieth anniversary of the
us, how pesticides keep our crops pest-free and hormones Awakening and alleged links proposed by the Mayan Calendar.
boost production and aerosols are more convenient, it’s
Clearly, many of these claims are based in irrational foundations
and beliefs, and bear no relevance to a scientific investigation.
refreshing to have a scientist acknowledge our society’s short-
These events have clearly captured the public’s mind and
sightedness.
imagination, but magic—though it definitely follows
> The Smiling Bandit cycles—does not bow to the whim of metahu-
Strikes Again! Ha Ha Ha! man calendars.
Because the metagenes There has been evidence that the
expressed by SURGE are incom- world’s ambient mana level has
plete, we do not find evidence been slowly but surely rising in
of total Goblinization as we minute degrees since the
did forty years ago, but Awakening. Though
instead find the expres- research into this phenom-
sion of a family of traits enon is often contradicto-
associated with the ry or inconclusive, I find
secondary genetics. this mana level escala-
Since the genes are tion to be a likely cause
incomplete, there are of SURGE. Much like
almost always genet- the original
ic defects associated Awakening and
with the metamor- Goblinization, I theo-
phosis. As DNA divi- rize that SURGE
sion is responsible for occurs when the
the creation of bodily mana level has risen to
protein chains, discov- a point high enough to
ery that digestion and activate recessive and
allergies are also affect- inactive metagenetics.
ed is not surprising. Many Due to the relative com-
of the SURGE “changelings” plexity and piecemeal sta-
(as the media has dubbed tus of SURGE genetics, I find it
them) have expressed intoler- likely that the metagenes
ance to common conditions, responsible would require a
unusual dietary allergies and even greater concentration of mana in
severe skin allergies to normally benign order to activate than the metagenes
substances. responsible for standard metahuman expres-
sion and magical ability. This would also explain
why we have yet to discover a single genetic marker for
> Every bodily protein is created via DNA. If the DNA is altered, SURGE that could be used to discover if a subject is a likely carri-
even just a fraction, the protein it produces might function in
er. These markers simply might not exist, making SURGE difficult
entirely new ways. For example, one “expressed” woman I met
(maybe even impossible) to detect in an unexpressed individual.
could no longer digest animal proteins after her transformation.
More unfortunate cases might not be able to bond oxygen to
> This well-touted hypothesis is becoming widely accepted,
their blood’s hemoglobin or may no longer have the instructions
and it fits quite snugly with previous metagenetic theories such
to generate certain interferon or leukocytes and thus be more
as those proposed by Dr. Mendelson. If it’s true, then gene ther-
prone to disease. Another possibility is the creation of entirely new
apy is going to have absolutely no effect on SURGE, just as it
enzymes that open the cell walls to toxic substances, such as the
hasn’t affected any metagene currently discovered. In fact
changeling whose skin absorbed many airborne pollutants com-
most attempts to alter metagenes leave the subject dead. If

we take this hypothesis to be true, then it follows there will be WHO IS AFFECTED BY THE SURGE?
no non-fatal cure for SURGE. Our latest data suggests SURGE is most likely to occur in
> Tanaka mundane humans. Mundane metahumans make up the second
most susceptible group, and each metatype seems to be
Another theory has been circulated that deserves some equally affected. The Awakened seem to be the least affected,
commentary—the so-called meta-retrovirus. It is entirely pos- though evidence indicates that a higher percentage of
sible that SURGE was and is caused by a retrovirus, one which Awakened humans have been affected than Awakened
targets and activates specific genes or even rewrites certain metahumans. Other factors, such as age, gender or ethnicity
genetic codes in the host organism. This hypothesis, like my seem to have no factor whatsoever.
own hypothesis, would explain the lack of genetic markers for There are several working theories regarding this variation
SURGE, though the retrovirus would need an unusual vector. among metatypes, though all of them lack conclusive evidence
Given the percentage of the world’s population affected by at this time.
SURGE to date and the even distribution of occurrence, I would
rule out sexual, airborne or water vectors and would suggest THE FUTURE
that the vector would need to be more univer- Like other metagenetics, SURGE has had a tremen-
sally prevalent. Perhaps it exists in the soil dous impact on our world and so bears further
in a similar fashion to polio over a cen- study. Our committee has a dozen project
tury ago. Though the evidence proposals that we will be submitting
seems stacked against it, this soon to tackle new paths of investi-
possibility does still warrant gation into the phenomenon.
some investigation. With the exception of our fruit-
less and sometimes disastrous
> So SURGE might be gene therapy trials, our other
caused by a retrovirus? experiments to date have
Any chance the virus gone quite well and pro-
was manufactured in duced valuable results,
a lab? Are we look- despite limited budgets.
ing at a conspiracy While the quality of our
here? Maybe some
volunteers has been
below standard, we
tragic error was
have learned what we
made manufactur-
needed to from each of
ing the virus uninten-
them. We have found
tionally?
ample employment for a
> Reynard small percentage of these
volunteers (and their new
> In a word, my para- abilities) after we were fin-
noid friend, no. Given the ished with them. I expect to
low success rate associated have a detailed report on these
with tinkering with any meta- trials and our SURGE findings
gene, I say it would be impossi- available for your review by the end
ble to accomplish intentionally. It is of the month.
also extremely unlikely that a retrovirus
released at one point would have spread so > “Volunteers?” Oh man, I don’t wanna know.
evenly across the globe and exhibited such a low per- > Droog
centage of occurrence.
> Tanaka > You know, not every corp is so evil that they kidnap people
for scientific exploitation. Don’t forget that quite a few
changelings view their condition as some sort of disease or
> Don’t be so sure. I’ve gotten an inside look at more top-
affliction that can be cured. Many of them are willing to sign
secret corp genetics labs than I’d care to admit, and some of
away their lives to a corp for the chance to return to “normal.”
the monstrosities I’ve seen still make me wake up screaming in
Other changelings may have no choice—their expressions may
a cold sweat. While a lot of it has the taste of mad science to
place them in an adapt-or-die situation.
it, some of those gene designers really know their stuff, and
have created some interesting creatures out of whole cloth, so > Pumpkin Eater
to speak. I wouldn’t put a SURGE metavirus past any of them. In my professional opinion, there is no question whether
> Feral we should continue down this avenue of research or whether

we should allocate more resources to it. The incredible poten- > As it so happens, Mr. Yoshida is something of a bigot, or shall
tial that could be realized if metahumanity ever obtains a firm we say a throwback to the old Japanacorp conservatism that
grasp on metagenetics is unlimited—it is simply a realm of sci- once dominated Yamatetsu. Our good Doctor Alexi Urbanowski
ence to which we must devote ourselves. happens to be a dwarf, and so the two never saw eye to eye,
so to speak. Looks to me like the doc was just spilling a bit of salt
> Ah, yes, just think of those possibilities. Armies of troll-sized, nat- into the wound.
urally armored Awakened security guards. Legions of water-
breathing, aquatic-adapted employees for all those aqua-
> MacBeth
cologies. Squads of pheromone-oozing, pretty-as-an-elf corpo- THE SURGE CRISIS
rate negotiators. Makes you tremble, doesn’t it?
> Many of you will remember the face and voice of Rohit
> Strip Talwar from the trid. One of the more outspoken leaders of the
Ork Rights Committee (ORC) in Seattle, Rohit was a controver-
On A Personal Note:
sial figure. As an avowed pacifist, many viewed Rohit as a
My staff and I would like to express our sincere regrets for
the tragedy that has befallen Yamatetsu board member Hideo calming influence upon the ORC, a gifted leader who was
Yoshida. We sincerely hope his metamorphosis will be as pain- turning the group away from its violence-marked past into a
less as possible, and that it will not create too many difficulties new era of legitimacy. Others viewed Rohit as an ungrounded
in his life. However, as our report indicates, I can only advise him idealist, whose opposition to militancy was a sell-out bid to gain
that the gene therapy he is undertaking is not likely to have an mainstream acceptance.
effect, given our history of experimenting with metagenetics. Rohit Talwar died on September 15th, 2061. He was struck
It may warm Mr. Yoshida’s heart to know we have not yet down while protecting a changeling from a rampaging human
established whether the metagenetic traits associated with street gang. He did not fight back, and both he and the
SURGE will breed true. Other metagenes do not. If SURGE changeling were killed. The murderers are still at large.
genes do in fact breed true, we can extrapolate from current The following excerpt from his personal journal was read
models of metahuman breeding that changelings may be much aloud at his eulogy.
more commonplace and may represent a much higher per-
centage of the population in the next few generations. He is
> Captain Chaos
Transmitted: 25 September 2061 at 01: 34: 42 (PST)
not alone. Be sure to tell him I said so.
I was alive during the Night of Rage. I do not remember
> Am I reading this correctly? Are SURGE traits going to be much, but I do remember the fear my parents felt that night. I
passed on to the point where, down the line a half dozen gen- had never seen my father so afraid. My father was human, as
erations, everyone will be a changeling? am I. We had friends and family who were orks and trolls. We
> Ira feared for them as much as we feared for ourselves.
I would say it was some sense of higher justice that drew
> That would go a long way toward evening out the mix so to me to the Ork Rights Committee some ten years ago, but it
speak. Put us all on an even playing field. We may not see it in was not. It was fear. Fear that the tactics of young militants in
our lifetime but it could mean some hope for future generations
ORC and similar groups would lead nowhere but to another
night like the one burnt into my memory. It was through this
to live outside of racial hatred.
fear, the warning system used by our body and mind when we
> Brick are threatened by harm, that I had hoped to be motivated to
do the most good. I believed that violent tactics could not
> Unfortunately, I think the good doctor is misrepresenting the lead to positive change. I hoped that my influence, like that of
facts here a bit. It has already been established that other Gandhi and King, would lead to greater understanding.
metatraits do not necessarily pass completely from parent to Sometimes the greatest illusions are within our own mind.
child. When reproduction occurs, natural mutation and
crossover may displace the spatial segments for the genetic > Violence is not always the proper tactic, but lynch mobs are
code. Given how recently SURGE appeared, there simply isn’t not known for listening to reason, and the only way you get the
enough evidence to establish whether it will follow the same attention of the power structure is by threatening to undermine
pattern, though this is likely. So even if both of your parents are it or hurting its profit margin.
changelings, there’s no guarantee that you will be one as well. > Brick
> Tanaka
Perhaps it was only familiarity that caused metahumanity
> So why would the doctor paint a different picture? to become more accepted over time. We have seen significant
ork and troll candidates run and occasionally win political elec-
> Argos
tions. They’ve even run for president, and the sign that a drag-

on won must certainly be positive. I had seen my bright future > Some corps have taken a positive approach to the change.
as more than just a hope, but it was not to be. Both Wuxing and Yamatetsu are offering special employment
SURGE brought along with it the same old hatred. Rational opportunities for SURGE changelings. Granted, their real moti-
people turned to the media and the Matrix for information and vation may be to get an up-close look at as many changelings
perhaps a reprieve, but none was to come. Instead of calming
as possible.
fears, the media fed us only rumors and paranoia. Instead of
science and understanding, we received speculation and > Tricky
hatred. The Night of Rage had returned. I pray each day the violence will end and the healing will
Hatred glowed in the eyes of both humans and metahu- begin. I hope all sides will see the light of reason and accep-
mans. The source of this hatred—a small body of afflicted who tance. I act each day in accordance with my beliefs. I abide by
deserved nothing but our aid and pity. Without knowledge, the lessons of my youth and will not hide from my fear. I will
people assumed the worst—fear welled within their hearts and confront it. I will stand before it and conquer it. Hopefully, oth-
warped their minds. No one may ever know what spark lit the ers will follow my lead and we can end this together.
flame that burned September 12th, but it is certain that few
who were there will ever forget the outcome.
POLITICS OF HATE
I know nothing of the numbers: the wounded, the death
count, the loss of nuyen from vandalism and looting. What I do > Like all stories, there’s an opposite perspective to the SURGE
phenomenon, though it may be loathsome and despicable. To
know is how it felt on the street that night. Whenever I drift off
to sleep, I see my father’s face, full of fear. I suspect my daugh- show you how the “other side” thinks, here’s an excerpt from a
ter saw a similar look on my face when the streets gave way to speech by Donald Leyton, a lobbyist for the Humanis Policlub.
rage once again. I pray she is not haunted by the same images Leyton gave this speech in front of the Dunkelzahn Rift, just
that plague my sleep. before the breakout of a massive riot that led to hundreds of
The masses that ravaged Seattle that night committed injuries and casualties.
crimes not only against society but against individuals as well. > Captain Chaos
Assault, murder and rape are just words until they happen to Transmitted: 5 October 2061 at 20:04:39 (PST)
you or someone you love. Each day, the news bombards our
eyes and ears with images of reactionary violence from all over I, for one, find it abhorrent that our government’s laws are
the world: SURGE victims attacked by roving mobs, hospitals so far out of concurrence with scientific fact. Metahumanity
burned to the ground for treating changelings. has been proven to be of a separate and divergent genetic
Those afflicted by SURGE have begun to fight back, esca- stock than the pure human genome—far enough that separate
lating the violence and fueling the hatred. But what else are sub-species have been classified for each branch. It is more
they to do? correct to refer to an elf as an elf, rather than a meta-human.
We look to our political and financial leaders for inspiration The genetic codes of an elf or ork are as different from human-
and see none. Politicians who undergo SURGE almost uniform- ity as the code of a chimpanzee. We do not legally recognize
ly step out of the public eye and those who do not are shunned chimps as humans, so why do we recognize orks as meta-
and threatened. Those who speak out against the mistreatment humans? After all, chimpanzees are often better behaved!
of SURGE victims are dealt with harshly by the populace and <laughter and cheers>
the policlubs. Many of the corporations have begun to turn For this very reason, it is a crime against the human race
away changelings at the door, and God only knows what is that the landmark legislation proposed by Representative
happening to them inside the corp complexes. Slattery many years ago has never been accepted into law. As
many of you faithful Humanis supporters know, Slattery’s leg-
islation would have classified elves, dwarfs, orks and trolls as
> Sure, a bunch of changelings lost their jobs or suddenly found
out their insurance policies don’t cover genetically driven
separate sub-species of humanity and not races in the classical
and legal sense. This legislation was defeated by liberals who
metamorphosis. I haven’t seen any evidence of corps actually
claimed it would override the human rights and privileges
rounding them up or using them as lab rats, though.
granted to metahumans by the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court case,
> Pistol Pete despite the fact that it did no such thing. Lies. All lies.
> Scan this. Yakashima corp instituted a ban on changelings > The Slattery legislation proposed to classify metahumanity as
right after SURGE became big news. Every single one of their sub-species, not races. The key here, legally at least, is that
corp citizens who went through the change disappeared, their metas would no longer gain the right to protected racial status
records erased. It’s worse than the damn Inquisition. You don’t under the Constitution. Certainly they would have the right to
believe me, check their personnel files. If you believe a corp bear arms and practice the religion of their choice, as any cit-
that size hasn’t had one incident of SURGE among its citizens, izen, but they would not be legally protected from discrimina-
then I’ve got some lunar real estate to sell you. tion, nor would they necessarily have the right to vote in feder-
> Moon Man

al elections. The legislation has been introduced multiple times every state and county, to inter those with the SURGE muta-
in Congress but has failed to pass every time. tion. This is the only way to protect ourselves from the prolific
> Legal Eagle spread of this disease until an acceptable solution can be
found. <cheers and applause>
Now, a new threat to the human race has reared its ugly We cannot assume that this liberal, mongrelized adminis-
head—the mutant infection dubbed Sudden Recessive Genetic tration has our best interests—the interests of the pure human
Expression. This genetic disease is none other than a further dilu- race—at heart. We must take decisive action ourselves, to
tion of both human and metahuman genetics. A whole new ensure this disease is controlled. If it can’t be cured, it must be
mongrel species has come to the fore, much more divorced curbed—starting immediately! Our genetic future and the
from root humanity than even the trolls and orks. These mon- future of all humanity lies in the balance. We can not afford to
sters and half-breeds are not only granted special privileges and be complacent! We can not afford to be inactive! We must take
protections by our government, but they are allowed to walk the a stand and we must win, this time and forever! <cheers, fol-
streets where they will infect our race with genetic decrepitude. lowed by shouting, gunfire and screams>
> Technically, this man is more full of himself than he is full of > I’m actually surprised. This guy is Humanis? Where is the call
truth. All of metahumanity can interbreed with varying results, for extermination of the inferior races? What am I missing?
leading scientists to classify the meta-breeds as sub-species > Winger
rather than species unto themselves, an important distinction.
> Tanaka > Remember, this was the public face of Humanis. Even they
can only spew so much vitriolic dogma and get away with it.
> The long and the short of it is that the man is a Humanis slug Look at this as a call to arms. Read between the lines and the
who thinks that metas are less than human. It’s the same old message you are looking for is there, just hidden a bit more
rhetoric with a modified target. The worst of it is that inside the carefully. I’m sure in private Leyton has more explosive things
metahuman communities and the elven nations there are sen- to say.
timents that echo Mr. Leyton’s. Prejudice comes in all forms, > Puddy
chummer, and from all sides.
> Argent > Maybe, but you will never hear them. Decades ago, Humanis
took a beating, both legally and politically, for spouting that
Ask yourself why our government is diverting money to kind of nonsense. Today racism comes gift wrapped in much
provide health care for these SURGE mutants (who make up
more pleasant and potentially agreeable packages. Make no
less than 1 percent of the population) when there are still peo-
mistake, the message of hate is the same.
ple dying from cancer and VITAS. Ask yourself what you are
willing to give up in order to give the mutants a free ride. Are > Legal Eagle
you willing to give up your child’s education? You are, accord-
ing to a recent government report that states more than 20
THE NEWEST RAGE—SURGE!
percent of our nation’s human children are illiterate. A stag- > You cannot expect a shockwave such as SURGE to not have
gering figure, greater than many third world nations. In our an effect upon popular consciousness and culture. I pulled this
nation there is a larger number of humans without SINs than report off the newswire. SURGE has already been accepted
there are SURGE mutants. Where is the free health care for among the trendier crowds, much more quickly than
them? Where is their education? Where are the programs to Goblinization. Hopefully, the attitudes expressed by hipsters will
re-invest them into society and provide them with SINs? These spread into the mainstream.
people are not genetic freaks. They are good and decent > Captain Chaos
human beings who just need a helping hand. I believe our Transmitted: 28 October 2061 at 11:41:30 (PST)
hard-earned nuyen would be better spent on our own kind.
<cheers and applause> Welcome, I’m Linda Teng and this is Seattle Beat, report-
We can no longer stand aside and let this liberal admin- ing the hottest and newest in Seattle culture since 2054.
istration give handouts to genetic mutants while human chil- There’s been a SURGE in popular culture lately, as the
dren are starving. We need to treat this SURGE phenomenon changelings have taken the spotlight. From fear to fascination,
as we would any outbreak of disease and put experts in place SURGE is on everyone’s mind. Even the name sounds exciting,
to combat and cure the affliction. We need strong leaders and and let me tell you—it is!
strong action to isolate those inflicted with SURGE lest they At last count, over 5,000 changelings have expressed in
spread the disease, sexually or otherwise. This is standard the Seattle sprawl. After weeks of hospital stays and social
procedure as outlined by the Center for Disease Control, a acclimation, these changelings are now ready to reveal them-
procedure I suggest we follow, whatever it takes. <cheers selves to the world. A whole new changeling subculture has
and applause> sprung into place to accommodate this need, and the first gen-
Our nation must once again step forward and become the eration of SURGE clubs is providing this scene a comfortable
measure by which the world judges its actions. I call for isolat- and safe haven.
ed disease centers to be established outside every city, in

SURGE clubs are places of unusual scenery to say the
least, as illustrated by the Fractured Helix—the first SURGE
club to open its doors in downtown Seattle. Compared to its
neighbors, Fractured Helix is an island of genetic difference,
where changelings are highlighted rather than shunned.
Though non-changelings are also admitted, little else is com-
mon in the establishment.
Most of the live artists who grace FH’s elevated stage are
changelings, such as the up-and-coming keyboardist Digit.
Not only did Digit’s expression grant him perfect pitch, it also
gave him an additional finger on each hand for an extra level
of key manipulation. Digit is often accompanied by
changeling bombshell Noticia Nightcord, whose evolved
vocal cords produce sonic stylings found only in nature. This
duo has proven so popular, they’re already receiving airtime
on local Matrix feeds and are at the center of a bidding war
between multiple lauded record companies. We had a chance
to speak with Digit before his latest show, and here’s what he
had to say:
“It’s not like I didn’t play before I changed. I’ve always
been a musician and my music hasn’t changed all that much.
For me it’s just a gimmick, something for the draw, right? My
music has always been acid hot, and now many more people
are hearing it. SURGE gave me a gift that I’ve put to use, like
a shot from heaven. I’m not afraid to admit it.”
The Fractured Helix is quickly becoming the place to be,
as local scenesters flock to the freak show. Last week, the
Helix was rated the third hottest place to hang in Seattle,
just under the two all time favorites, the Inferno and the 93.
The man responsible is a flashing star from the San
Francisco night scene who has graced our skyline with his
husky voice and dwarven stature—Bonaparte. He may not
top the ruler, but the Helix’s manager has a flair for the
unusual, which may be just what the doctor ordered for the
good-old-boy-network that has been the Seattle nightlife.
We had a few words with Bonaparte and here’s what he
had to say:
“Linda, I can’t say that I’m not excited, but really I just
saw a niche and took a chance. But it isn’t all about money.
I wasn’t even born when the worst of the prejudice hit after
Goblinization, and I was just a kid during the Night of Rage.
But since then I’ve seen my share of prejudice, and I felt it
was time to do something about it. To me the Fractured
Helix is a place where changelings, metas and humans can
all come together and have a great time while enjoying the
finest in drinks, style and live entertainment. The way I see
it, when you party with a person, it’s hard to wake up hat-
ing them the next day. I’m just doing my little bit for racial
harmony here.”
And making a pretty penny at it too, Bonaparte.
While the Fractured Helix may be the greatest success, a
small handful of other SURGE clubs are also doing well in their
secluded way. Some of these are thrown together in the
cheapest places available, often operating illegally without the
proper licenses for liquor and recreational narcotics. Many of
them enforce a changeling-only policy, though a few will
allow anyone with the guts and the credit to come inside.

The SURGE explosion has other dark sides as well. RC: Yep.
Perhaps it is our curse, but people always seem to want what
they can’t or don’t have—and SURGE is no exception. From JQ: I understand that your change caused a bit of upheaval in
the cheapest and least invasive methods such as skin dyes, your life. You lost your old job, the support of your family and
prosthetics and contact lenses, to the expensive and perma- your friends … care to tell us what happened?
nent methods such as cosmetic surgery and crafted bioware,
there are those who try to mimic with technology what others RC: I was a receptionist at a major Seattle shipping firm. I was
gain from nature. And we aren’t just talking sculpted ears and officially fired because I hissed at my boss one too many times.
fur implants. Some changelings have expressed exotic He wanted me, of course, but I wasn’t having any of that fat
changes that shouldn’t be mimicked by any sane person. pig. Felines don’t get along well with swine. Oh, and I gave the
Those who have tried to mimic these extreme changes have kid in the mail room a couple of scars while we made it in a
sometimes done grievous harm to themselves. broom closet—but that was an accident. The higher-ups
Yet, like all fads, some people always insist on taking it thought I assaulted him. It was exactly the kind of excuse they
too far. needed to let me go. He was a good kid. I felt kinda bad about
Until next time, this is Linda Teng for Seattle Beat. the scars, so I got de-clawed.
THE CHANGELINGS JQ: What about your friends and family?

> Some of you may respect Jack Q, perhaps one of Seattle’s
most notorious tridsnoops. The rest of you may despise him for RC: Well, I lost some friends because they were bigots and oth-
his holier-than-thou attitude and his willingness to dump any- ers because they just couldn’t cope with my changes. And my
one’s rep in search of the truth. Whatever your thoughts are on
family, well … they don’t approve of my lifestyle since the
change. They have a very strict sense of morality, and, well …
Jack Q, there is no denying the amusement factor of his inter-
I’m a porn star.
views. The following 60-seconds Live Chat between Jack Q and
one of the first changeling celebrities, Rebecca Constantine,
JQ: I thought the proper term was “simsensualist.”
certainly lives up to Jack’s standards.
> Captain Chaos RC: My family raised me with a strong set of morals. Before I
Transmitted: 12 December 2061 at 07:31:59 (PST) SURGEd, I was a good girl.
Jack Q: My guest today is Rebecca Constantine, one of the first
JQ: And now you’re a naughty kitty.
changeling superstars. Rebecca, forgive me for saying this, but
you are hotter than Texas asphalt during a heat wave in August.
RC: Did you make that one up yourself or did the cute Ivy
League writer boy on the other end of the teleprompter make
Rebecca Constantine: So I’ve been told. It’s the kitty-cat
it up for you?
genes, Jack.
JQ: I must admit, it was me.
JQ: Well, you certainly give new meaning to the term “house-
hold pet.”
RC: Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude, darling. My doctor says I
have poor impulse control as a result of my feline genes. I find
RC: Are you coming on to me, Jack?
it next to impossible to say no to my impulses, Jack.
JQ: No. I’m a professional, Rebecca. I would never.
JQ: Any impulses right now, Rebecca?
RC: Not that I would mind.
RC: Rrrowr. Don’t tease, unless you want me to increase your
download to the point where the routers can’t handle it.
JQ: Whoa. Okay. Moving on. What did it feel like when you
changed?
JQ: I’ll do anything for ratings. Moving on. Rebecca, I get the
sense you’re not being up-front with me.
RC: I itched all over for about an hour—it was horrible—and
then the changes really began. The most drastic expressions
RC: How so? I’m always up-front.
took a bit of time to grow out completely so the pain was
spread over a few days. My eyes caused the worst problem,
JQ: Well, Doctor Poule of the Dunkelzahn Institute for Magical
and I had splitting headaches for about a week. I’m glad I did-
Research has discovered no link between the physiology and
n’t grow a tail like some others I’ve seen. That probably hurts.
psychology of SURGE changelings—in other words, SURGE
does not seem to alter a victim’s behavior, only their body. Is
JQ: From Plain Jane to Fabulously Feline.
it possible you are just acting out, playing a part to further
your career?

RC: Are you calling me a liar, Jack? SURGE—THE MYSTERY PRIZE DRAW OF NATURE.
by Talia Dullemond
JQ: No. I’m calling you an actress. In a paper entitled “Incidences of SURGE Expression
Among the Native Flora and Fauna of the Azanian Steppes,”
RC: Who are you going to believe? A dried up old hack psy- noted Azanian scientists Carmel and Anthony Masala
chologist, or me? stunned the scientific world with their research into SURGE
effects in nature.
JQ: Dr. Poule is far from a hack. She may not look as good in a The Masalas described several dozen new species varia-
latex bodysuit, but she’s at the top of her field. I think I’ll side tions they’ve recorded amongst the animal, plant and insect
with her on this issue. Sorry. life of South Africa. Like SURGE expressions among metahu-
manity, the new characteristics being exhibited by the variant
RC: You’re not winning points here, Jack. species tend to be more subtle than a complete transformation
into a new species, and enable the creature to fulfill its ecolog-
JQ: What can you tell me about the Draco Foundation? I under- ical niche more effectively.
stand they help displaced changelings find new jobs. Did they
help you find your current employment? > So what you’re saying is that we won’t get any armadillos
turning into juggernauts, but we may get an armadillo with
RC: No, I don’t think the Draco Foundation would place people hardened armor or the ability to shape earth?
into my line of work. They tried to help me find doctors spe- > Scarab
cializing in SURGE, but I did just fine on my own. I didn’t need
a handout. And my new employers were able to find a doctor
to help me adjust to my new problems.
> That’s exactly what they’re saying. Let me just say that I think
I might get offline and feed my cat, just in case it suddenly
expresses and leaps through the cupboard door or sharpens its
JQ: What problems are those?
claws on my cyberdeck …
RC: Dietary mainly. I have to eat a lot of meat. Preferably rare. > Minx
The Masalas discovered that a creature may express a par-
JQ: Rare?
ticular ability, but that ability is not manifested species wide.
For example, at least three variant expressions are known to
RC: Let’s just say my building doesn’t have rodent problems
have occurred among the common white field mouse. One
anymore.
mouse has expressed adaptive coloration, a second has exhib-
ited increased reflexes, while the third has been dubbed the
JQ: Whoa. Well, that’s about all the time we have for today, but
Prickle Mouse after manifesting a coat of tiny quills, somewhat
if you would like to see any of the sims starring Ms.
akin to a porcupine.
Constantine you can find links in our directory. My personal
In a statement recently issued by the Combined
favorite is In Heat, by the way.
International Committee of Zoological and Botanical
Nomenclature, the identifier of “Novo”—meaning to make
RC: Thanks.
anew, change or alter—is to be appended to any SURGE vari-
ants, along with their variant identification. For example a
JQ: Rebecca, stop licking yourself.
SURGE variation of the common click beetle that originally
attracted the moniker of “Capacitor Bug” (due to the unusual
RC: I’m preening, Jack.
static electrical defenses it has expressed) has been catego-
rized as Elateridae Novo Beta. The Alpha variant expressed
SURGE IN NATURE the ability to emit a spray of caustic liquids from its abdomen
> It’s important to remember that SURGE isn’t just a phenom- to deter anything that may try to make it a tasty snack.
enon affecting metahumanity—all sorts of critters have
undergone changes. The following article comes from the > Take it from me folks, you don’t want to start scrabbling
November 2061 issue of Neoscientist. The more scientifically around if one of these little buggers lands in your hair, or it’s a
inclined among us may have already read this, as short trip into lobotomy land with frizzy hair.
Neoscientist subscriptions are quite popular these days. But > Caliban
for those of you who haven’t, hopefully you’ll find this inter-
esting and relevant, especially if you’re planning any runs in In their paper, the pair also discuss the commercial viabil-
the outdoors. ity of the new species, stating that at this stage, the numbers
> Captain Chaos of SURGE affected flora and fauna are still too low to enable
Transmitted: 12 December 2061 at 22:51:30 (PST) wholesale monopolization. One example they cite as particu-
larly ripe for study is the dual-natured variant of the
Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilo Antimachus Novo Gamma). This

particular insect has wings which constantly swirl with all man- land. Do you think there might just be a little bit of research
ner of colors. Preliminary research by the Masalas has discov- going on there? Don’t you think that could be of interest to your
ered that this particular effect is due to an astrally sensitive running career?
pigmentation contained in the butterfly’s wings. This causes > NightRain
the pigmentation to change hue according to the changes in “Don’t vote, it only encourages them.”
the butterfly’s aura.
THE NEW PARANORMALS
> That’s interesting. Several benefits are of course immediately > Since SURGE kicked in, parazoologists have been scrambling
obvious; if this pigmentation could be extracted, it could then like crazed children to identify and categorize new species.
be made into some form of spray in order to allow mundane Quite a few of them have already made significant finds,
doctors—once trained—to monitor their patients’ health by boosting their careers and extraction potential quite signifi-
viewing aural shifting. And, of course, mood rings may now cantly. The new species below were each discovered by Dr.
become a reality! David Wright. Some of you may recognize Wright as a pupil of
> The Smiling Bandit the famous Dr. Patterson. Following his mentor’s disappearance
Strikes Again! Ha Ha Ha! four years ago during a trip into Amazonia, Dr. Wright has ded-
icated himself to continuing Dr. Patterson’s work, producing
> This also begs the question as to whether or not SURGE affect- several supplemental guides to paranormal creatures. The fol-
ed creatures breed true, or if their manifested powers are, in lowing entries were excerpted from his latest work.
effect, random. I guess we will discover this with time, though > Captain Chaos
magic has a nasty habit of following its own rules. Transmitted: 15 Dec 2061 at 22:09:38 (PST)
> Dr. Doolittle
DEMON RAT
Demon rats are the result of a widespread SURGE expres-
> What this document doesn’t say is that there have been
sion in the common paranormal animal known as the devil rat.
many reported cases of entirely new species being discovered
Quite similar to their devil rat cousins, demon rats have been
that have no precedents. For all we know, they’ve appeared
reported in almost every metroplex and sprawl across the globe.
out of nowhere.
Demon rats are a bit larger than devil rats, with their
> Psychojester bodies typically reaching a full meter in length. Their tails
extend an additional meter, and significantly aid the crea-
The Masalas’ paper is careful to point out that SURGE
ture’s balance. The most common physiological difference
effects are not limited to fauna. All manner of Awakened plant
between demon rats and their progenitors is a pair of short
varieties have also been listed. One of the most apt variations
but sharp horns mounted on the rat’s head, slightly behind
is a new strain of clover that has expressed an immunity to her-
and above the eyes. Demon rats also tend to have full coats
bicides, making it difficult to eradicate. Many of the plant
of fur, like a normal rat. They are just as resistant to poisons
species variants on record have become dual-natured to attract
and diseases as their predecessors, and they have also exhib-
pollinators with astral sight. Any daisy can glow in the ultravi-
ited saliva that is exceptionally caustic and corrosive, causing
olet spectrum, but the astral spectrum is going to be compar-
severe burns. As a rule, demon rats tend to be much tougher
atively emptier, thus making it easier for Awakened bees to
than devil rats, and there have been several reports of demon
find their flowers.
rats that rapidly recovered from apparently lethal wounds.
Like devil rats, demon rats are quite cunning, and can eas-
> Great … super-clover. Why am I even bothering to read this? ily identify and avoid traps. Demon rats also seem to be more
> Frogger socially organized, acting in concert and leading packs of nor-
mal rats and even devil rats. Their hands are quite dexterous,
> These little variations may not be large enough to swallow and they have reportedly used them to unlatch cage doors.
you whole, but the next time you’re swarmed by bees that Demon Rats are aggressive hunters and have been known to
think your activated foci is an Awakened daisy, don’t come attack humans and metahumans.
whining to me when you’ve been stung.
> Tamino > What do you get when you put a Demon Rat in the blender?
“All too easy!” One pissed-off Demon Rat.
> Jaws
> Pay attention, Froggy. Your world is changing around you, and
you could care less? If simple curiosity about the world isn’t > When Dr. Wright says these things are aggressive, he’s not kid-
enough, think of what toxin resistance could mean if someone ding. Devil Rats tend to be scavengers, digging through trash
was able to get wheat or soy to grow safely in otherwise toxic and eating the occasional dead animal. Demon Rats, on the

the plant to trigger an alarm when it glows. Some corps have
begun to grow glomoss on walls or within wall-shaped con-
tainers, so that it acts as a living astral barrier as well as an
astral detection system.
> There are drawbacks to using glomoss for astral security. First
of all, it’s dual, so it’s vulnerable to mana spells. Dead moss
doesn’t glow. Secondly, if you use glomoss you can’t use
bound spirits; if the spirit wanders too close the glomoss will
detect it. The same goes with wards or other astral constructs—
they have to be kept away. I don’t know about you, but I’d
rather have a spirit around than Awakened moss.
> Shetani
other hand, are hunters. They scavenge when necessary, but if

they’re hungry and something they think they can kill is around,
they’ll go for it.
> Mime
> Wait and minute. These things can regenerate? Drek, the
sprawl is doomed!
> Piper
GLOMOSS
Glomoss was first documented in the Allied German
States and several other Central European regions. It was
quickly discovered that this hardy moss would grow almost
anywhere, provided it had an abundant supply of water. Since
its discovery, several corporations have capitalized upon it,
growing it for customers who wish to take advantage of its
special properties. > The ability of the moss to detect astral activity doesn’t require
Glomoss is a dual natured flora that is sensitive to magical line of sight. Some smart security specialists have begun hiding
activity on the astral plane. When the plant detects astral activ- the moss within opaque containers along with photosensitive
ity or mana concentrations on the astral plane, its physical form sensors. (Of course, the moss needs light to live, so it’s only “on
undergoes a chemical reaction that causes the moss to glow watch” half the time—the rest of the time it gets sun lamp treat-
with a luminescent green light.
ment.) An astral mage or spirit won’t see the moss unless they
Since this discovery, glomoss has been used as a cheap
stick their astral head inside the box, but the glomoss may well
and easily maintained source of astral security, often deployed
detect them, light up and set off the alarm.
in conjunction with a camera or light sensitive receptors near
> Peek-a-boo

we ran across one of these things. It stood up to its full length
and roared at us, like it was trying to scare us off. We didn’t
want to risk alerting others with gunfire, and we couldn’t go
around it. My chummer Tor, who’s part Amerind and has been
on a “personal honor” kick lately, decides he wants to take this
thing on, mano a bear-o. He pulls his axe, charges forward, and
goes at it with the bear. Tor got batted around a bit, but then
he managed to tag it with a good slice. After that, the bear
simply backed off, licking its cut, watching us walk away. Weird.
Sure enough, on our way back out three days later, we ran
into it again. We got the same challenge, only this time we had
pursuit that was getting close and couldn’t waste time. So we
simply opened up on it. Boy, did that press the bear’s big red
button. It charged us like a demon from hell, moving quicker
than I’d have thought possible, knocking trees out of the way
to get at us. Small arms fire didn’t even hurt it, and it ripped Tor
in half like he was made out of ricepaper. Luckily we had some
heavy ordnance left to take care of it.
In retrospect, we handled it the right way the first time
around. Be warned.
> Mac
> So you’re saying these things are intelligent?

> Mime
> Not really, though they’re smarter than the average bear.
Many animals exhibit behavior similar to this, at least within
their own species. The horned bear is just a little more obvious
about it.
HORNED BEAR > Wright
Following its first appearance in the northern UCAS, the
NIGHT MANTA
horned bear was given its name by several screamsheets for
The creature dubbed the night manta is an Awakened vari-
both its size and its ram-like horns. Since then, over thirty
ant of the manta ray. However, unlike its aquatic cousins, the
horned bear sightings have been reported, almost all within
night manta is not confined to the water. A night manta spends
the cold climate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, espe-
most of its time airborne, levitating through magical means.
cially Yakut and Norway. Horned bear sightings in the northern
They average 1.8 meters in length, including their tail, and
forests of the California Free State, however, suggest they are
have a wingspan of almost 3 meters.
not restricted to cooler climates.
Night mantas are nocturnal hunters, sleeping under-
Horned bears are much larger than standard black bears,
ground and away from the sunlight during the daylight hours.
standing 4 meters tall when erect. They sport a pair of curled,
Due to their jet-black skin, they are virtually invisible in the
ram-like horns on either side of the head and their fur has a
night sky as they swoop down upon their prey. Night mantas
dark, almost-black hue.
have a large stinger at the end of their tails, through which they
Like most bears, horned bears are incredibly strong and
inject their target with a virulent venom. The mouths of night
resilient, and quite dangerous when angered. Horned bear
mantas contain several rows of sharp, needle-like teeth which
hides are exceptionally thick and feature a layer of tough der-
they use to tear apart and eat their prey.
mal deposits, allowing the creature to shrug off most damage.
Night mantas are dual natured, though they seem to have
Horned bears are also dual-natured, and have exhibited excep-
no interest in the astral forms of magicians or spirits.
tional speed and strength that can only be magical in nature.
Few night mantas have been reported to date, though all
When an intruder enters a horned bear’s territory (physi-
reports have placed them in remote locations, usually in tem-
cally or astrally), these creatures seem to follow a certain pat-
perate climate zones.
tern of behavior. The horned bear approaches and issues a
howling challenge, expecting the intruders to flee.
> The doc’s not fraggin’ around when he talks about these crit-
ters havin’ some deadly poison. I was laid up in a “hospital”
> The Doc’s assessment is not entirely true. I was with my team after a job in Portland, and this enormous, cybered up troll was
out in the frozen tundra of a country I’ll decline to name, when

brought in and set up at the bed next to me. I’m no slouch and
have my share of ’ware, but this dude was definitely not some-
one I’d want to start a fight with, and here he was screaming
like a little girl. After a couple minutes, he seemed to scream
himself hoarse, and just lay there whimperin’ while the doc tried
to figure out what to do. Then he convulsed a few times, his
face tuned black, and he croaked.
Not the way I want to go out, that’s for sure. If I had my
choice, I’d rather go out quietly, in my sleep, filthy rich.
> Krom
SANGRE DEL DIABLO

In the rainforests of South America, there is a tree called
Sangre del Drago, which translates to Blood of the Dragon. For
centuries, the dark red sap of this tree was said to have miracu-
lous healing properties. Rumors have abounded for decades of an
Awakened version of this tree hidden deep within the jungles of
Amazonia that does, indeed, have a magical healing property.
The Sangre del Diablo (Blood of the Devil), however, is a
twisted and hideous SURGE variant of this noble tree. Only a
few instances of this tree have been reported, and we can only
hope they do not spread. Standing up to 40 meters tall, this
huge tree has expressed a number of magical capabilities.
The Sangre del Diablo doesn’t feed off chlorophyll, as most
plants do. Instead, the tree is carnivorous, using a magical com-
> About a month back, I saw about a dozen or so of these
pulsion to lure its victims close. Once the unfortunate creature is
things flying around the evening skies just outside Houston.
near enough, the tree engulfs it, spewing its dark-red corrosive
Don’t know what they were doing, they just circled around for sap onto its victim. The sap kills, then dissolves the tree’s prey,
a while. I didn’t know what they were, so I watched for a little allowing the Sangre del Diablo to absorb the liquid remains.
while. It was actually kind of breathtaking the way they were The porous wood of the Sangre del Diablo is surprisingly
dancing around the night sky, silhouetted against a full moon. solid, making the tree resistant to conventional means of
Then they just flew away. removal (axes, chainsaws, fire and so on). The Sangre del
It was a really eerie sight, but one I’ll never forget. Diablo has also proven highly resistant to magic.
> Maelwys

> These abominations are not merely a byproduct of SURGE,
they are the result of years of torture and slow poisoning of the
Earth. What was once a beneficial living being, a creature of
the Earth, has been twisted and warped by the mistakes of
metahumanity into a fearsome and evil predator.
> Son of Gaia
> Toxic, carnivorous trees? Remind me to support my local

deforestation project.
> Bull
“The Best Ork Decker You Never Met!”
> What Doc Wright didn’t mention was that his buddy and men-
tor, Dr. Patterson, disappeared in the Amazonian jungles four
years ago looking for the rumored Dragon’s Blood tree. The ques-
tion is, did Patterson find his Awakened tree, or the Sangre del
Diablo?
> Who
> I know a rich slag who’s offering top cred for someone to
retrieve the wood of one of these trees. He wants to have a
nice, blood-red, real-wood dining table to fit his décor, and
seems to think this wood fits the bill with its rarity and durability.
Before you go harvesting though, be warned, this tree may har-
vest you.
> Psycho Toon
SHAMBLER
Over a dozen of these loathsome creatures have been
reported in swamps and sewers around the world. It was orig-
or sunlight. The shells vary greatly in size and weight, depend-
inally speculated that shamblers were SURGE-expressing vari-
ing on the number and type of creatures forming it. To date,
ants of ghouls or goblins, but this theory has been discarded
the largest shambler shell reported was nearly 8 feet wide and
because shamblers are not infected with the HMHVV virus.
over 500 kilograms.
The shambler is a slight but muscular creature standing
approximately 1.4 meters tall and weighing 150 kilograms
with a set of four near-sighted eyes. Specimens captured to > Hey Doc, here’s one for you. I was slogging my way through
the sewer systems after a little job a few weeks back, and I ran
date have been pale and lethargic, and they seem to have a
preference for dark, secluded places. Shamblers are able to across what I assume now was one of these shamblers. The
produce an extremely sticky substance from glands in its neck weird thing was, it was outside of its shell! This small, ugly, pale
and chest cavity. Shamblers spit globs of this “glue” at targets, white thing went running for cover as soon as our flashlight hit
temporarily immobilizing them and sticking them to the it. We were in a bit of a hurry and it didn’t seem too interested
ground and surrounding objects. Within minutes, the sham- in us, so we didn’t stop to play.
bler’s victim suffocates. A minute or so later we passed this big mound of critters
A shambler then uses this glue to stick the corpse to the and stuff all stuck together. We would’ve passed right by and
shambler’s own body, creating a protective, grisly “pelt.” ignored it, but it started to spit these mucous goobers at us, so
Multiple creatures are trapped in this manner, forming a we had to riddle the bugger with bullets. After expending
grotesque shell the shambler carries around and hides under. more shells than I would’ve guessed were necessary, the thing
The shambler continues to excrete more of its sticky secretions keeled over. We checked underneath the mound (nearly get-
over the bodies, which eventually hardens into a resinous ting stuck in the process), and saw a similar critter to the one
glaze, strengthening the shambler’s shell. The shambler feeds
we’d seen earlier.
off the bodies through a network of veins close to the surface
Any ideas?
of its skin. The veins meld to the shell, allowing the shambler
to suck vital nutrients from the corpses. > Jaws
A shambler shell is extremely hard, able to deflect a hail of
bullets, but weakens rapidly under prolonged exposure to heat > It’s been theorized that shamblers reproduce asexually. The
few specimens that have been studied don’t have any repro-

ductive organs. It’s quite possible that after it’s fed enough, a probably because the deck-mounted Vindicator was already
shambler sheds its shell and simultaneously produces an off- swinging around to bear on him. He put those new wings of his
spring. The old shell serves as food and shelter until the new to use, and off he went, never to be seen again. Was this just
shambler is strong enough to create its own shell. The parent the most wicked SURGE expression seen so far, or was some-
shambler would probably then start accumulating a new shell thing even stranger going on? You tell me.
for itself. > George
> Wright
> Sounds to me like the Veil messed with more than your sense
> I have a new paranormal to report—or at least I think I do. of direction.
I was part of a smuggler crew operating a ship in the north > Callisto
Atlantic, and we had just picked up a new deckhand, a
Welsh slag named MacDougal. He was a spooky fragger, but > I don’t know. I heard a similar story about some guy who
he at least kept his weirdness to himself. To cut a long story turned into a small dragon down in Jakarta. The first report I saw
short, we ran into some trouble and had to shake loose some mentioned the guy had gone on a rampage, and it mysteri-
pursuit. Things were looking grim, so our pilot took a radical ously ended when a larger dragon appeared on the scene.
course of action and steered directly towards Tir na nOg— Oddly enough, when I went back to retrieve the news
right into the Veil. article after reading George’s post, I couldn’t find any record
Now, the Veil is some sort of magical protection the Tir uses of it. In fact, I’d be willing to say someone had deliberately
to keep intruders out of their land, and all I can say is that it arranged for that little news item to disappear.
severely messes with your mind. Not only do you find yourself > Pink Eye
going loopy and unable to tell up from down, but all the instru-
mentation goes wacky. It’s impossible to track another ship into > Sounds to me like a dragon child went astray, and Momma
the Veil. or Poppa Dragon had to come along and spank it. No one
Sure enough, we lost our pursuit, and came out of the Veil knows anything about baby or young adult dragons, right?
about 12 clicks southwest of our last recorded position. But How do we know they don’t send ’em out into the world in
while we were in the thick of it, MacDougal suddenly went human guise to learn the ropes? Maybe it’s like missionary
crazy. He was running around on deck, screaming and tearing work among the mortals or something. I mean, it’s dragons
his clothes off. Me and some of the crew tackled him, but while we’re talking about. Just be glad they don’t send their kids to
we were holding him down, he started to change. His skin sud- school with the metahuman kids.
denly turned scaly, his neck extended, and his face trans- > Bob—who spells the name backwards
formed into this wicked beak with small horns on the side. In
only a few seconds, he had torn through his clothes and > It could be that dragon children Goblinize at puberty, like orks
pushed all of us off of him like we were rag dolls. and trolls sometimes do.
I was one of the lucky ones who didn’t go over the side, > Red Menace
and I got a good view of him—or whatever bloody monstrosity
he had turned into. If I hadn’t seen the size of Dunkelzahn on > I’ve met one of these creatures, and to the best of my knowl-
the trid, I’d have said he had transformed into a dragon. He edge it is not a dragon—though it did work for one. It is clear
had the scales, claws and wings of a dragon, but he was only these creatures are related to dragons in some way, but in my
about 2.5 meters tall. Now, I suppose he could have secretly experience the relationship is one of master and pawn.
been a dragon all along, riding around in human form, until > Shetani
something about the Veil disagreed with him. But I got the
sense he was as surprised with the change as we were, and > Not all of these creatures work for dragons, though the drag-
that he never expected to turn into some mini dracoform. ons wish this was not the case. Many of these creatures have
In any case, MacDougal didn’t stick around to explain, their own agendas and goals, and walk their own paths.
> Quicksilver

HYSTERIA
othing says End Of The World like the rise in chaos, cults, religious fervor and just plain weird-
N ness from every quarter of the globe. Karl Marx once said that religion is the opiate of the
masses. If that’s the case, then cults are the BTL-induced nightmare of the masses. Some
are useless and silly, but others are deadly and vicious. Do the cults create hysteria, or does
hysteria create the cults?
Most sprawl dwellers don’t worry too much about cults—they just hope they don’t get
caught in a random subway nerve-gas attack or that their rebellious teen doesn’t choose to
be the next Universal Brotherhood poster child. Those of us creeping around the shadows
tend to bump into cults and other uglies in the dark, so it pays to be informed. Here are some
samplings of what’s out there, culled from a list of literally hundreds of them. Some of these
reports come from shadowrunners who have done their research, others come from the
mouths of madness themselves. Activate your bulldrek buffers now.
> Captain Chaos
Transmitted: 5 October 2061 at 15:03:46 (PST)
CHILDREN OF THE DRAGON

by Rae Martin, NewsNet Reporter, 9 August 2061
Ever since metahumanity decided that using tools and wearing clothes were good ideas,
people have consistently shown interest in being a part of something larger than themselves.
This can be a nation, a club or even a chat room. The largest concentration of this feeling,
however, can be found in religion, especially since the advent of the Sixth World.
One of the direct beneficiaries of this “call to prayer” has been the Children of the Dragon
organization. The Children of the Dragon (CotD) is a religious group that was formed follow-
ing the tragic assassination of President Dunkelzahn in 2057 to “spread the sacred word of
the dragon to all people.” The members of the group believe that Dunkelzahn was a divine
being who sacrificed himself for the sake of the survival of metahumanity.
Here on the fourth anniversary of his death, with Halley’s Comet in the sky, we look
toward the Children to see if they’re still keeping the flame burning.

> I’ve always felt sorry for them more than anything else. To > Ms. Martin isn’t kidding about that, either. All major events in the
have such a lack within yourself that you have to find some- Children of the Dragon are held in those temples, be they mar-
thing external to throw your heart and soul into, that’s a feeling riage, funeral, whatever. I understand that every member is sup-
I’ve never understood. The real power is within oneself. posed to try to make a pilgrimage to one of those temples once
> Mystic every few years to commune with the spirit of Dunkelzahn or
something. I asked a friend of mine who’s in the church to explain
> And the lack of the ability to see beyond your own limited it, but he said he couldn’t talk about it outside of the crèche.
experience is even sadder. Don’t preach on issues you know > Sam I Am
nothing about. The Dragon has shown us the way, and all we
do is celebrate that fact and try to share it with others. If you > Has anyone checked any of these major temples on the
can’t handle that, then you’re the one I pity. astral? They have a noticeable astral presence.
> Sister Goldenhair > Collide
> I just loaded Shadowcell with a continuous loop of the most > Those temples are so hot because each of the main sites has
boring lesson on binary mathematics I could find. It awaits any- a special altar with one of the Big D’s talon clippings incorpo-
one who wishes to start a flamewar over spiritual and religious rated into it and then consecrated. The mojo those things gen-
beliefs. Respect, people, respect. erate is off the scale.
> Captain Chaos > Abyssinia
“I Am Everywhere!”
The number of individuals who claim membership in the > They also don’t stint on astral security. Those pretty ivy plants
group has increased dramatically since Dunkelzahn’s death. The they love to grow along the walls of the temples are Guardian
reappearance of Halley’s Comet has thrown membership Vines, designed to hold you just until one (or more) of the good
through the roof as people search for a way to make sense of the number of people on astral watch drop by. That is, assuming
events that surround them. The number of men and women who they don’t spot you themselves. They’re always friendly until you
follow the Children of the Dragon is difficult to measure, as they give them a reason not to be, but they don’t kid around. Don’t
recruit heavily from among the SINless and other street people. mess with them unless you want your hoop professionally kicked.
> Wild Child
> Sounds suspiciously like the Universal Brotherhood to me.
> Joey > Where the frag did they get Dunkelzahn’s talon clippings?
> Madam Rouge
> You could say the same thing about most other ministries for
the poor out there. I’d say the main difference is that the con- The organization originally attempted to obtain the land
verted don’t drop their former lives, don’t move into Dragon next to the Dunkelzahn Rift as the site for their main temple,
Central and don’t develop an allergy to insecticides. Plus, all
but was unable to do so. Instead, they purchased land a few
miles away and built the temple for their DeeCee chapter there
bug scans on CotD types have turned up negative.
within two years of the President’s death. Since that time, the
> Deprogrammer organization has spread to temples in St. Louis and Boston,
with smaller crèches throughout the UCAS.
This practice skews any attempt at determining the actual The founder and leader of the Children of the Dragon is
membership count, but the closest estimation places member- known as David Dragonson. Dragonson was born as David
ship approaching 80,000 members across the UCAS. Lawrence Emerson in DeeCee in 2031. His father was one of
the board of directors of a mid-size corporation, guaranteeing
> Sweet Jesus. I knew I was seeing a lot of dragon-kinder late- a life of privilege for his son. He was an only child who never
ly, but I didn’t realize it was that many. I even saw a trid-ad for excelled in school or work, without magical talent or ambition.
them the other day during the Timberwolves match. Though popular, he had few lasting friendships and seemed
> Curious George unable to decide on a direction for his life, drifting from cause
to cause as he searched for a final goal.
> And if that isn’t a statement on our time, I don’t know what is.
> Zephyr > Emerson used to date my sister for a couple of years in col-
lege. He was one of those guys that could smile, say the most
The Children of the Dragon has enjoyed enough prosperity outrageous lies and get away with it because you couldn’t
to rival any other religion to surface since the Awakening. Their
help liking him. He’d have made a great politician except for
congregations, called crèches, center around the temples that are
the fact that he couldn’t get his act together long enough to
the focus of their religious lives. The first and largest Temple of the
finish a pack of chewing gum.
Dragon was built on Prince Edward Island, UCAS, and is consid-
ered by members of the group to be the center of their faith. > Desiree

> Given our current crop of political winners, I’m not sure that church’s doctrine, and some who weren’t shamans before
disqualifies him. have become so since contacting the totem.
> Poli Sci > Wild Child
> Charisma like that is often the mark of a budding magical tal- > That’s ludicrous. A totem doesn’t limit itself to a small group of
ent. I wonder that no one ever saw the potential in him. people. It either is or isn’t, across eternity. Totems are picky
> Mystic about who they work with, but they aren’t that picky.
> Caliban
Lacking direction, his father got him a job as a gofer for
Dunkelzahn’s campaign team. The campaign seemed to flip a > But if it’s new, who’s to say? Magic hasn’t been around long
switch inside Emerson’s head and he threw himself into the enough for us to know all the rules yet. This year alone ought to
work, making a name for himself as a dedicated and resourceful prove that.
individual. Something about the dragon inspired young David,
motivating him towards dreams he had never held before. Those
> Miranda
dreams were shattered when Dunkelzahn was assassinated.
Following the President’s death, Emerson committed him- > Dragonson is a dragon himself. That’s the only possible
answer that fits all the facts.
self to holding a silent vigil at the site of the explosion. For
months, he acted as a man whose sanity had been ripped from > Dragonslayer
him, staring for hours at a time into the magical rift that had
In the years that followed, the Children of the Dragon
opened during the explosion that killed President Dunkelzahn.
reached a plateau. While they continued their focus on ministry
He would also recite from Dunkelzahn’s last will and testament
and aiding the poor and neglected, their membership ceased
to anyone who would listen. Most who passed by ignored the
to grow. The current members showed little sign of falling
wild, unkempt man who rambled about the former president.
away, but the organization had difficulty drawing in fresh
But a few of the other dragon groupies listened, and they fol-
blood. Observers thought this was a sign that the group had
lowed him when he finally left the rift.
been little more than a fad following Dunkelzahn’s death, but
recent months have shown signs of renewal.
> I heard that among the people who went with
Emerson was Chara Kendring, the head of magical
security for the Republican Party HQ. She just disap-
peared when Emerson left and showed up six months
later at a CotD press conference at the main temple NO SUSPECTS IN BRUTAL SLAYINGS
on Prince Edward Island. There was quite the proper Posted 08-14-61
panic attack when the higher-ups learned she was New Orleans (HTB)—Police say they have no leads yet to the bloody
gone and their precious party secrets might be out. multiple homicide discovered in an apartment in the French Quarter. At
> DeeCee Insider least eleven adults and two children died in the slaying, though police
have declined to release their identities. There is no confirmation
Two months later, David reappeared as David whether this is the work of a single mass murderer, or whether cult
Dragonson, leader of the Children of the Dragon. He activity or drugs were involved.
gave his initial statement on the talk show “UCAS While details of the murders are being kept confidential, the
Today,” telling the nation of the divine message of man who discovered the bodies, pizza delivery person Chad Earl, had
Dunkelzahn. The group gained attention when this to say: “Oh man, was it gross. I got the apartment number wrong,
Dragonson began performing magical acts such as and I saw that the door was slightly open. It was dark inside, but I
healing and transmutation, much to the surprise of could smell something funny in the air, like, uh, incense. Yeah. So I
those who had known him as a mundane. He claimed knocked and stuck my head in, and kicked on the eyelights I use to
that his magical ability was a gift of the dragon and read receipts in the dark. Oh man, there was blood everywhere.
even more people flocked to his church. Splattered on the walls, dripping from the ceiling, congealing in dark
pools on the floor. I thought at first it was syrup or something, but
> The Children of the Dragon have become a clearing- then I saw the bodies. Oh man, it was a major buzzkill. All of their
house for magically active wannabes. It seems that a throats had been slit, and they had these grotesque flaps of skin or
few people formerly considered mundane have had something hanging out. I guess that was their tongues. Oh man. So I
abilities triggered since joining the group, so hermetic called the cops, and while I waited, I saw that there were black hand-
hopefuls are showing up in droves. prints and some other weird symbols drawn on the floor and walls, in
> Mystic a bunch of shapes. I was trying to read them, but the cops kicked me
out because I was tracking blood all over the place.”
> Word is that the newly Awakened are following a
totem named Dragon. That’s the center of the

The organization has recently broken ground on new tem- recruiting people to pass out flowers and leaflets at the airport.
ple sites in Denver and Seattle. Smaller groups have begun Folks, I got a new name to add to that list, if you haven’t
appearing not only across the UCAS, but across the border in the heard it on the news already: Jeremiah Adams. Jeremiah is the
CAS as well, forcing more than one crèche to move to larger leader of the Seventh Seal, a Bible-swinging hate cult that def-
buildings to accommodate its worshippers. It has been suggest- initely doesn’t believe that the meek will inherit the Earth.
ed that the reappearance of Halley’s comet is partially to blame Now, the Seventh Seal hasn’t pulled any mass-murder sprees
for this resurgence of religious interest. Putting the effects of hys- or bombing campaigns yet, but they get my vote for cult-
teria aside, the question of why the Children of the Dragon that’s-most-likely-to-go-pop-and-take-lots-of-us-with-it.
should have gained so many more members proportionally than
other cults is one that has puzzled observers for some time. > Yawn. More alarmist bulldrek? Come on Cap, it’s just more of
the same comet hype. Nothing extreme. There’s weirder stuff
> The cult (because that’s what it is) has grown because it happening in Hong Kong.
uniquely focuses on the Sixth World. I mean, who else follows a > Droog
dragon? Emerson has great timing, and he knows how to use
marketing and investments to package an appealing product. > Tell that to the people suffering from SURGE in the hospitals
The last time any religion was this skillfully built was when some because of the severe changes going on in their bodies, or
science fiction writers got together in the twentieth century. because some Humanis thug beat them so badly they’ll be
Money can sell anything. drinking from a straw for the rest of their lives.
> Deprogrammer > Doc
> There’s more to it. Dragonson has formed a secret organization I found out about this group when I went to visit a friend of
within the cult composed mostly of “ex”-shadowrunners. He uses mine who’d just gotten out of the hospital. My friend had just
this group both as security and to proactively counter “dark things undergone SURGE, but her expression was fairly minor and the
in the world” like he believes Dunkelzahn would have done—one
hospital merely ran a check-up then sent her home. And before
you ask, yeah, she’s got a legit SIN. She actually runs a profitable
of their first ops was to eliminate a bug hive in DeeCee.
talismonger shop in Renton, which is where I went to visit her.
> Blossom
> If that’s who I think it is, Fatima’s chummer is Rosy Baker and
> Watch for a guy who calls himself Joshua Morningstar. He’s her shop was Rose’s Magic Garden. Shame what happened to
the power behind the recent upswing in converts and he can
her shop; it was kinda small but real cozy, and she always had
speak with the voice of an angel. He’ll probably be inheriting
a cup of tea for a friend or favorite customer.
the whole dragon kit-and-kaboodle when Dragonson retires.
> BethSheba
> Abyssinia
I arrived to find a motley group of norms with signs in
Regardless of the cause, no one can deny that the Children one hand and Bibles in another, throwing handfuls of ashes at
of the Dragon is becoming a familiar name across the UCAS, passers-by. Apparently, word had spread in the community
rivaling smaller, traditional Judeo-Christian sects for member- about her condition, and the freaks had crawled out of the
ship. While some are concerned at this growth, others welcome woodwork. Some of them were wailing and holding signs
the group with open arms. A few pundits have pointed out sim- proclaiming the world’s end. When I got closer, I saw that the
ilarities between the Children and the Universal Brotherhood, signs had a postscript that read “Revelation 5:6–14.” Not
another group that claimed to be acting for the good of metahu- being a Biblical scholar, it didn’t mean much to me except that
manity. But so far there has been no indication that the Children Revelations supposedly had an apocalyptic vision of the future
of the Dragon are anything more than they claim to be. The only in which spiritual war was waged for the salvation of mankind.
thing we are assured of is that the Children of the Dragon will Still, something about the group put the hairs on the back of
not be disappearing any time soon. my neck to prickle, so I took at a look at them in the astral.
Of course, I immediately regretted it. The sheer fervor of
CULT OF THE SEVENTH SEAL emotion swirling around them, the hate, excitement, religious
by Fatima zeal and desperation was enough to immediately give me a
Charles Manson. Jim Jones. Shoko Asahara. What do they headache. So far, though, I didn’t see any evidence of magical
all have in common, besides being dead? Don’t know? Maybe tampering with the crowd. My mistake was in assuming that
a few more names will help. How about Skyler Parks from the this meant they were somehow safe.
Tacoma chapter of Humanis Policlub? Youn Kim Abal from the I passed through, getting a mouthful of ash and some
Reformed Moonies in Bellevue? Sound familiar now? They menacing glares for my trouble. My friend was inside having
should. They’re all extremely charismatic cult leaders. You some tea, still a little shaken up by the turn of events. I did my
should remember their names because they’re also the type of best to comfort her, then offered to give her a lift home. As she
cult leaders who had their followers building pipe bombs, mix- closed up the shop, I could see the crowd outside had grown
ing deadly chemical compounds and taking lives instead of just a bit larger. We shrugged on our jackets and stepped outside.

As soon as they saw her, the mob of maniacs set upon us, quick search on Mr. Adams turned up a surprise—he was a
their wild hair, ashes and stones flying. “Repent!” they shout- changeling! The picture we dug up clearly showed the crown of
ed. “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!” one yelled seven horns around his blonde head that were a result of
as a rock smacked an intricate pattern in the door’s safety SURGE. Talk about your fashion victims. I thought at first the
glass. Another rock knocked my friend square on the head. horns might actually be cyber, but they were all natural. This
Down she went like a cooked noodle, and I saw red. These raised the first Big Question: why was a changeling-led cult
fraggers had hit us! attacking others affected by SURGE?
“Eye for an eye!” I shouted, and let loose a stun spell on I asked around on the street, and I found out that his
the crowd. That bought me enough time to drag her into my adherents called Jeremiah the “Lamb of God.” According to
car, but it didn’t sit too well with the fanatics I missed, who those Bible verses, the Lamb of God was the only one worthy
started howling for my blood. Thankfully I had a spirit on stand- enough to break open the seals and pass judgment, since he
by, and it kept them busy while we escaped. The violence did- was slain and rose again (to paraphrase what they said). In this
n’t stop once we left, though. The bastards firebombed my guy’s case, it didn’t really make sense. How could someone
friend’s shop and a riot ensued, spreading through the neigh- rise from the dead?
borhood. Some other metas in the hood were badly beaten. It We dug in a little deeper and found the real dirt. First,
was only later that I’d heard about Humanis’ involvement. Jeremiah was listed as a low-end flunky in the Humanis poli-
Once I got my chummer all taken care of, I put some feelers club just a few months earlier, before he expressed as a
out and asked for any info I could get. The first business was the changeling. Jeremiah apparently said the wrong thing to the
deal behind the Revelations quote. It dealt with all these fires, wrong person, because he had a near-death experience at the
floods and disasters that happen around the end of the world after hands of the Sons of Sauron, that ork/troll extremist group.
a bunch of seals are broken open. What really caught my eye, They caught him in an alley and stomped on his innards until
though, was the passage about the seventh seal, and this star the they became pudding. Humanis made a big deal out of pay-
Bible called Wormwood that falls to earth. What do you think my ing his hospital bills and decrying the attack, crying to the
next thought was? If you said “the comet,” you got it in one. That media about how this was another example that metahumans
gave me the shivers and set me to digging for more. weren’t much better than rabid animals.
I had a decker run the arrest reports from the riot, and it Then, in the middle of his hospital stay, Jeremiah SURGEd
turned out a few of the arrestees had been linked to a religious into a changeling. Humanis suddenly had a mess on their
group called the Seventh Seal, led by one Jeremiah Adams. A hands—they were harboring a metahuman freak! Not a prob-

lem, say the Bible-thumpers of the group. Check this passage > It gets worse. These guys aren’t just prejudiced and violence-
here. He’s not a freak, but divinely gifted. He’s the Lamb of prone, they’re murderers. A group of them ritually sacrificed an
God. Wink wink, nudge nudge. ork child down at Ingersoll Aquaculture in Snohomish. Ingersoll
had to shut down for a day while they contained the news and
> Do not pay attention to what Fatima says. We have found cleaned up the mess. The reason why? Because just the other
that she works for a number of subversive elements that seek
week, Ingersoll Aquaculture had decided to sponsor a mostly
to pervert what is left of our society. If you want to know the
metahuman Little League team.
truth, come to one of our meetings in Renton or call LTG#
> Day-Zee
5536-72-0612.
> Hugh Mann > I knew the Seventh Seal wasn’t really a righteous group of
You have to give Humanis credit, they must have really Christians—but that’s because so many of them are Satanists.
worked all two of their available brain cells to pull an advan- Before you blow a fuse, let me explain. When Jeremiah first hit
tage out of this one. They created a whole rationale to prop the trid, talking about the coming Apocalypse and sporting
Jeremiah up as a cult figurehead. SURGE, the comet and all that crown of horns, he drew the attention of a man named
the craziness happening around the world are the results of Simon White. You may have seen him, he’s always standing
the breaking of the seventh seal. The sixth seal got broken behind Jeremiah, since he’s now become his right-hand man.
around the Awakening, and other disasters in the past are I happen to know Simon from the past, and I know he follows
blamed on the breaking of other seals. Of course, the only the voice of the Adversary. My guess is that he views Jeremiah
flaw in this is that Jeremiah wasn’t around during those times, in a little bit of a different light—the living incarnation of his Idol.
but like most fanatic groups with gaping holes in their ideas, > The Redmond Baron
they either ignore you, pretend to misunderstand what you
say or just start calling you a heathen and a sinner. Then
> Are you implying that this Simon fellow thinks Jeremiah is the
you’re in really deep drek; metahumans and SURGE victims, anti-Christ?
they say, are not of the tribes of Israel that will be saved. We
have been marked.
> D. Thomas
And so Humanis builds up this hate and fear-mongering
cult and uses Jeremiah as their puppet, their figurehead. Except > It’s not that cut and dry. The Adversary and Satan aren’t nec-
essarily the same thing. But he must see the mark of the beast
he’s not completely under their thumb; I’ve since seen him in
action, and his speeches are stirring, overflowing with charis- on Jeremiah somewhere for him to buy into the cult so strong-
ma. He looks more than capable of independent thought. Still, ly. The scary thing is, Simon already had a cult following of his
he gets what they want done. They sow ignorance about the own, and those bleeders are now Seventh Sealists. They must
true nature of SURGE, they recruit devout and honest people to be having a real kick of a time—normally Christians are their
throw themselves into harm’s way, and all the while more sworn enemies, but now they’re leading them by the nose.
money keeps flowing into the Humanis Policlub coffers > The Redmond Baron
through “tithes” and “donations.” On paper, that money’s
clean, but the way that they get it is by bilking the gullible and THE ATLANTEAN REBIRTH
extorting protection money from smaller businesses. by Miroth Be’nahven
> Miroth? What mother names her child Miroth?

> Court Jester
CULT MEMBERS MISSING > Not his, apparently. I did some digging on this guy
since an acquaintance of mine was showing interest in
Posted 08-28-61 this little clambake. Turns out he was born Nick Reitoth
istry of Internal Affairs)
Vladivostok (NN)—The MVD (Min in Auburn back in 2030 and he worked in a small-time
disappearance of over twenty
announced that it is investigating the ad agency up until about six months ago. His dad was
tok. All of the missing persons are
citizens from northern Vladivos a blue-collar guy, mom stayed at home. Who’d have
wed cult called Bridging the
believed to be members of an outla guessed their little boy would grow up to be an
ey’s Comet signals the open-
Void. Cult members believe that Hall Atlantean, hmm?
that will see the return of an
ing of a “bridge between worlds” > Gobstopper
spiri ts dest ined to rule metahumanity. The
unknown type of spirit or
been missing for over a week.
suspected cult members have each There are some in life who feel misplaced, out of
tion when signs of blood and a
MVD officials initiated the investiga sync. The feelings these people experience can never
ed in one missing cult-member’s home.
magical ritual were discover truly be resolved, for no matter how successful they
become, how much wealth they acquire, how happy

they are in love, they still feel something is missing. These > Are you so certain that this is the prank you think it is?
individuals never truly achieve peace, however much they
> Orange Queen
long for it. Until now.
At this time, in this place, the answers are finally at hand. The return of Halley’s Comet to this magic-filled Sixth
The reappearance of the comet has brought forth wondrous World is the first of the Three Signs. Now we are the Ale’i, the
knowledge. Rejoice, all you who feel dispossessed, for hope Promise, returned. Reborn into men of this age, we seek to join
has returned once more. That hope is called Ale’i Menatis. with our brothers and sisters and usher in a new age of enlight-
Those who are part of the magical community know that enment. Join us!
Atlantis is no longer considered a madman’s fantasy. Its exis-
tence is now considered to be fact. Lost to the world aeons > Ok, I’ll bite. What are the other two signs, and what do they
ago, its ruins lie beneath the waves in a watery unmarked mean?
grave, its knowledge and culture wiped from the face of the > Fish
planet. Or was it?
We at Ale’i Menatis have rediscovered ourselves and our
glorious destinies. No longer do we search endlessly for that
> Supposedly, the signs indicate different stages of the
Promise’s fulfillment. The first sign is just the beginning, but by the
which was not to be found in this life. No longer do we ache
third the Atlantean Empire will be reborn. The Atlanteans are
for something we could not name or imagine, but yet we knew
pretty tight-lipped about what the other two signs are—they’re
its lack. No longer. Now we know brotherhood and fellowship.
Now fulfillment and peace are our birthrights, as they were probably just keeping their options open.
meant to be from the first. They can be yours as well. > Deprogrammer
Ale’i Menatis is a group made up of men and women who
> You wouldn’t believe (or maybe you would) how well this
hold the reincarnated spirits of Atlanteans within their minds
plays to the corp crowd. Membership in this little enterprise is
and bodies. We meet regularly to discuss our purpose in this
growing at an amazing rate, primarily in the middle manage- age and to help locate our lost brethren. Through a technique
ment ranks. called “sublimation,” we trigger the latent memories held with-
> Howler in the mind of an aspiring member.
> Of course it plays well to them. That’s who it’s designed for. > Let me tell you about this “sublimation,” as ol’ Nick puts it. First,
> Deprogrammer the “hopeful” is put in a large dark room with atonal music
playing softly and mini-spotlights trained upon their face to limit
> Cynicism is the last resort of the damned. Your unwillingness to their vision. There’s a “priest” in attendance, wearing black
see beyond your limitations saddens me beyond words. robes and a hood, who helps the hopeful into a sensory depri-
> Kale’iana vation tank. The “priest” conducting the ceremony uses trodes
or otherwise plugs the subject into a simfeed where they’re “
During the last age of the Atlantean Empire, the rulers had
sublimated” in the experience of being one with the sea, or
grown weak, allowing society to become base and unworthy of
some such bulldrek. Anyway, this process can take a few hours,
the Empire’s greatness. The Empire became isolationist and
or it can be pretty quick, depending on the subject. Either way,
introverted as xenophobia drove the people to associate only
with their own kind. Waste and corruption were rampant, and the subject is unplugged a while later and now remembers
the few frugal and open-minded leaders that were left knew their former life as an Atlantean. Pretty slick.
that the end would come soon. In vain they tried to convince > Deprogrammer
the others, but their efforts failed.
Finally, the dissenters realized there was no hope left for > Are you saying that Be’nahven is a BTL pusher?
change. In secret, they began to recognize one another and > Buzz
met to decide what was to be done, calling themselves the
Ale’i, meaning Promise. Their skills and knowledge were great. > The Ale’i Menatis use a modified dreamchip/p-fix mix to
Their magical talents had no equal then or now. Through great achieve the desired results. After a successful session, the
trials and even greater personal agony, they discovered a basic personality will be retained but additional traits are
method of casting their souls forward in time, to be reborn with implanted. These traits can be deepened with additional ses-
their full knowledge and skills in an age when they might sions or customized chips.
revive the Atlantean culture in its full glory, bringing their
beloved land to life once more. That time is now.
> Inside Outted
> Stop! You’re killing me! Oh, dear, why didn’t I think of this?! > Nothing like an anonymous accusation to whet the appetite.
Guess I’ll be heading over to the religion SIGs after this to see
Whoever dreamed this up, I salute you.
what I can stir up.
> The Laughing Man
Ha! Fraggin’ Ha! > Slamm-0!

> Not every candidate is discovered to be Ale’i. Your supposi- > Any connection between this group and the Atlantean
tions are meaningless. Foundation?
> Duffy > Rooster
> I don’t like the sounds of this at all. > The Foundation views the cult as a group of wannabe
> Syzygy wingnuts. In fact, they just finished purging all of the “Ale’i” they
could find. The buzz says that they caught some members of the
We wish to state clearly that not all who feel drawn to us cult trying to pull some kind of inside job. I guess the Mystic
are Ale’i. However, even those who are not among the reborn Crusaders don’t take well to competing con schemes.
have a place with us. We will never turn away any who wish to
join our cause. If you feel that you are isolated and alone; that > Bard
you are a silent outcast among those who should be your com-
panions; that you are eternally out of step with your surround- > Anyone heard from Marauder lately?
ings; come to us. Our journey has only begun. > Maximus
> Duffy’s right on that point. Of course, if you look over the list > Anyone?
of successful and non-successful candidates, you’ll find that > Maximus
the Atlanteans have better security access, special skills or lots
of money. Most of the would-be Ale’i lack those qualifications.
CHURCH OF THE UNDYING LIGHT
by Rose Red
Reitoth is using his members to funnel information and cash his
I told the Cap that there was something interesting going
way, like any other fragger with illusions of grandeur would.
on with this Church of the Undying Light. He asked me to pro-
> Deprogrammer vide details, so here are two news articles that give the basics.
I’ll leave it to the rest of you to fill in the behind the scenes data.
> Don’t forget the Awakened—they automatically get in.
Can’t have any magicians escaping from their “magical soci- //Begin File Attachment//
ety” now, can they. FLOWERS IN PUYALLUP
> Magister Posted to KSAF Community Concerns, 5 September 2061
A few neighborhoods in Puyallup received a surprise this
> So who’s in charge of this operation? Where’s the cred being morning as hundreds of humans and metahumans wearing
funneled to? What is the secret cabal in charge doing with all long white tunics and white pants paraded through the streets,
of its lackeys? Do these Atlanteans do anything besides meet? handing out pamphlets and flowers along with bags of pre-
It doesn’t seem like they’re much of a threat. pared food. The group, calling itself the Church of the Undying
Light, has established an outreach center in the Puyallup
> George
Barrens, at 152nd and Canyon Rd.
> Good questions, all of them. I ran some basic checks and hit
a lot of dead ends. Whoever’s pulling the strings has isolated > Well, that must have been a popular little parade. I’m sur-
prised the Humanis groups or go-gangs didn’t decide to rain all
themselves from the rank and file quite nicely. But, hey, I always
over it.
liked a good challenge. I’ll get to work. If they’re really using
BTLs, they must have someone supplying them with the goods. > Chopped Liver
> Marauder
> I was there (sorry, I ain’t spilling why), and while most
of these neo-hippies looked like a mugger’s next vic-
tim, there was no shortage of subtle security. Some of
PORTLAND PLAGUED BY them flower children were real nasty bruisers, your gar-
den-variety mob thug (pun intended). They were well
GRAPHIC MUTILATIONS prepared for trouble under those pretty white tunics
Posted 09-02-61 they wore, and they also had magical backup on
Seattle (IIN)—According to unofficial reports, a grotesque message
hand.
was left in downtown Portland late last night, as at least six severed
metahuman tongues were found drilled into signposts surrounding a > Smiley
small city park. All of the tongues appeared to have been freshly The response of Puyallup residents was mixed.
amputated, but there is no evidence leading police to the victims or Some graciously accepted the flowers and meals, thank-
any other signs of violence. Police cordoned off the park following ing the Church members for their generosity. Others
the discovery, and refused to answer allegations that some sort of rit- reacted with amusement, and in a few cases, hostility.
ual had been conducted there. “What’s up with that sheet, whitey? Get your pampered
corporate ass back downtown behind that barbed

wire—we don’t need your charity” said one resident who church was watertight. They invest the money they get, most of it
refused to give his name and stamped angrily on the flowers. legally, and spend the dividends instead of spending it outright.
“Fraggin’ fanatics always think they know what’s best for us.” > The Chromed Accountant
The Church’s founder, Ellen Barai, gave a press conference “It’s all about dollars and sense.”
upon arriving back at the center. “The suffering has gone on for
too long, dividing us as surely as a blade can slice a loaf of
> They may be legit now, but I bet the Bigios will be calling in the
bread. We of the Undying Light have devoted our lives to the debt later. Those church principles will go right out the window.
eradication of poverty and hatred wherever we can reach;
wherever the Light’s rays can still touch, no matter how dim
> Louie
they may seem to be. We welcome all who are in need: The outreach center in the Puyallup area holds a soup
Whatever we have is yours.” kitchen, lodging area, day care facility and both adult and child
Ms. Barai was a citizen of Renraku prior to the arcology educational areas. In addition to these facilities, the church has
closure, working as a mid-level nurse. She was rescued from planned a workshop and store facility to open in the first quarter
the arcology by UCAS forces at the beginning of this year. of 2062, allowing them to implement on-the-job skill and trade
training for the residents of the area. Two additional facilities are
> Renraku? That explains the sudden change in philosophy, in the works for the Puyallup and Redmond Barrens areas as well.
doesn’t it? In reaction to a question about the cult’s beliefs regarding
> Zephyr the comet, Ms. Barai said, “I make no claim to prescience. To me,
the comet is a symbol of how fleeting our time here really is and
> Ellen was a great help to the Resistance. I couldn’t begin to how beautiful it can be if we try. That is the basis of our church
count how many lives she saved. and our efforts. If anyone wishes to join us, we welcome them.”
> Peregrine //End File Attachment//
Using her retirement fund and other investments, Ms. > She’s nothing but a pawn of Deus. The name of her group
Barai founded the Church of the Undying Light and began “Church of the Undying Light,” is a direct reference to it. She
gathering both sponsors and members. The church has been in and all of her meta-loving followers will burn.
existence for five months now, with membership growing > Cristof
steadily. Members take vows of obedience, charity and pover-
ty, giving their worldly goods to the church. The church then
converts those belongings into cash, using that money to pay
> Ewwwww-kay. Nothing like a little racist otaku paranoia to
start the day off right.
for its living expenses and charity programs.
> Cleo
> You wouldn’t think she’d get many takers on a trip like that, //Begin File Attachment//
but you’d be surprised. Seems it’s the time of the year for peo- ARSON DESTROYS CHARITY HOUSE
ple to begin panicking and hooking up with whatever seems Posted to KSAF Community Concerns, 11 August 2061
“good” in a shot at redeeming their unworthy hoops before Lone Star declared that arson is responsible for the confla-
they all fry in the afterlife. Of course, I’m still waiting for bugs to gration that consumed the new outreach center for the Church
pop out of the background, so we’ll see. of the Undying Light in the Puyallup Barrens. At least a dozen
> Wiz Kid
> Let me get this straight. This group convinces corpo-

LT
rate suits to give up their soulless, competitive lifestyles
and dedicate their lives to a selfless, ascetic existence. In
MASS SLAYINGS LINKED TO CU
Posted 09-23-61
the process, they surrender all their toys and cred. I’m today that it has obtained evidence
Austin (AP)—Lone Star announced
guessing some of these slags have inside knowledge of the globe to a comet-worshipping
linking a string of mass killings across
certain corps, too. Corpsec types must be all over this unclear yet whether those killed in
cult known as Bridging the Void. It is
group. in Tenochtitlàn, Ankara, Seattle,
six separate scenes of mass slaughter
> Headhunter members of the cult or victims.
Pusan, Tunis and Samarkand were
murd er are being ruled out as options.
Neither mass suicide nor mass
ging the Void are to be con-
> Ms. Barai was smart in how she went about this. She’s Lone Star stated, “Members of Brid
ic and extremely dangerous. We
the daughter of Thomas Barai, one of the wealthier men sidered heavily armed, skilled in mag
uctin g ritual suicides or murder in
in Bellevue and known for his connections with the Bigio believe that the cult may be cond
een the metaplanes.” No other
family. She played her cards well when she started the order to open an alleged gateway betw
organization, getting some good (straight) legal and information is available at this time.
financial people in early and paying them from her inher-
itance fund to make sure that the business side of the

Church members were killed in the blaze, though some of them sounded like something heavy might be happening.
may have been killed before the fire began. Several other mem- > Ammar
bers are also missing, according to unconfirmed reports.
“This is an outrage! This is terrible! Who would do this to > Nothing more than the usual that I’ve heard. Why, what did
such a wonderful, humanitarian organization?” said local resi- you hear?
dent Moira Jacobs, a frequent visitor to the center’s food
> Saevar
kitchen. The Church’s leader, Ms. Ellen Barai, could not be
reached for comment.
Lone Star declined to state if they had any suspects.
> Query: Makkah?
//End File Attachment// > SJT
> So who made the hit? Was it corp revenge for stealing a valued > That’s Mecca for the unenlightened. One of these days
you’re going to learn to keep up with current affairs, SJT.
employee? Or was it an extraction of a former valued employee?
> George > Saevar
> My bet is that it was a mob hit. The Bigios are probably using > Well, my chummer was taking a quick astral trip to see how
his sister’s redecorations were doing. He passed over Makkah
the group as a front to launder money, and one of the other
on the way, and he saw the signs of a big commotion and
syndicates decided to teach them a lesson.
something incredible lingering in the astral. He said it was right
> Moe near the Ka’bah. He couldn’t really describe it properly.
> Does there have to be a conspiracy behind everything? > Ammar

> Cynic
> Ka’bah—that’s the central shrine of Mecca, right? Doesn’t it
NEW ISLAMIC JIHAD have an unusually strong astral presence anyway, due to all
[Begin Log : Middle East SIG : 4 September 2061 at 01:25:33 GMT] that faith floating around? I thought that was established years
ago. Your friend probably just caught a rush of worshippers.
> Hi all. Is there something odd going down in Makkah right > Palo
now? I just got a strange call from a chummer of mine, and it

> I assume my friend would be familiar with the effect, oh infi- one of Islam’s greatest prophets. Many feel that he was
del. He said it was something quite different. Something pow- Mohammed, come again. In the past few years he’s built a uni-
erful has happened at the Ka’bah. I’d like to know what. fied juggernaut in the Middle East, a social movement dedicat-
> Ammar ed to bringing the Islamic nations and people together again—
the Islamic Unity Movement.
> Well well. I just did a quick search of the news feeds, and > Kephalos
here’s the most informative report I turned up. It’s from a pirate
Matrix screamsheet—it’s Westernized, but based out of the > Whoa, Keph, don’t waste your electrons explaining all this
Allied German States I think. again. I’ll just post one of the many news summaries floating
> Transplanted Soul around the ‘trix. Here y’go:
> Amitri
ISLAMIC UNITY LEADER ASSASSINATED //Begin File Attachment//
Posted 09-04-61 POLITICAL FACT SHEET 1338A: BADR AL DIN IBN EISA
<Unknown Source>—Shocking news from Mecca this evening. Posted 12 August 2061
It appears that Badr al Din Ibn Eisa, leader of the popular Islamic The spiritual leader Ibn Eisa was born in 2016 in Al-Basrah, in
Unity Movement, was gunned down in front of the Ka’bah, the southeastern Iraq. His early life is clouded in relative obscurity, but
central shrine of Mecca, by unknown assailants. Details of the he grew to become a well-known and respected mufti, or Sunni
event have yet to be officially confirmed, but the death of interpreter of Islamic law, whose piety and wisdom gained him
Islam’s premier charismatic leader was verified. many admirers and students among the rulers of Muslim nations.
One eyewitness, who preferred not to be identified, Ibn Eisa founded the Islamic Unity Movement as a response
described the incident: “Ibn Eisa was performing Umrah, in the to his experiences with the failed Second Ottoman Jihad and the
midst of the Rite of Tawaf. Several men suddenly emerged constant infighting between Islamic nations. The Movement
from the crowd at once, drawing weapons. Ibn Eisa’s guards gained prestige when Ibn Eisa helped to negotiate a settlement
were quick to react and a gun battle ensued. But they were too to the Second Iran-Iraq War. Ibn Eisa is directly credited for
late. He was shot in the head. His blood was everywhere. He spearheading the initiative to unify the Arabian peninsula under
lay on his back, his eyes open, staring upwards into the sky. I one government. When the nation of Arabia was formed from
heard someone cry ‘Il Allah Akhbar!’ We tried to help him, but the former states of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Kuwait, United
we were too late. We failed him.” Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, Ibn Eisa was made an official
Other witnesses report that all of the assailants were advisor to the first Caliph of Arabia, Kalim Sa’ud.
killed. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack in Following this success, the Islamic Unity Movement explod-
which many bystanders were also injured. We’ll bring you ed as multitudes flocked to Ibn Eisa’s cause. With a strong base
more news as soon as it comes to hand. of support in Arabia, Syria and Lebanon, Ibn Eisa’s power as a
//End File Attachment// religious leader rivals that of secular state leaders. His drive to
reclaim unified Islamic control over Lebanon is gaining support,
> So there you have it, folks. Ibn Eisa is now fodder for the forcing government figureheads to support the plan. Ibn Eisa’s
ghouls, thanks to some pissy faction or another. Makes one power base has attracted many enemies as well; the humble Ibn
wonder how the Islamic Unity Movement is going to hang Eisa has survived several assassination attempts already.
together now.
> Transplanted Soul
> So this guy is a wise religious advisor cum evil vizier, right? His
religious power base made him a political powerbroker, and he
> Merciful Allah ...
stepped on some toes. That sum it up?
> Ammar
> Tacks
> Islamic Unity Movement? Okay, now I really do feel out of
touch. Someone want to bring me up to speed, in words of one > Word is that Ibn Eisa was honestly a devoutly spiritual man
who followed what he saw as a divine calling to reunite Islam.
syllable or less?
I heard several accounts of other Islamic leaders attempting to
> SJT
exert temporal influence over him, but he simply followed what
he called the “higher authority.”
> Someone else, please. I have to hop a semiballistic to
San’a—I have a family to check on. > Saevar
> Ammar
> A couple of Ibn Eisa’s more weaselly advisors dropped out of
> Alright, Slacky, here’s the gen. I’ll assume you haven’t been the public eye about a month ago. Perhaps they realized they
paying attention for about the last year or three—stop me when weren’t onto a winner with Ibn Eisa and ran off to manipulate
it starts sounding familiar. Basically, this Ibn Eisa chap is—was— someone more prophetable, er, profitable.
> Desert Fox
> Ouch. So let’s get to the dirt. Who had him whacked? IBN EISA LIVES!
> Tacks Posted 09-09-61
<Unknown Source>—A joyous Islamic Unity Movement held a
> Well, keep in mind that Ibn Eisa orchestrated the successful
occupation of Lebanon last month—a major political victory press conference just minutes ago to announce the resurrection
of movement leader Badr al Din Ibn Eisa. Despite being con-
for the Islamic Unity Movement. I would guess that Lebanon’s
firmed dead five days ago after masked assailants shot him in
twitchy neighbors, the Israelis, didn’t like such a strong mass
front of the Ka’bah, Ibn Eisa appeared in person this morning to
movement knocking on their back door. Jerusalem has been
a group of mourning followers outside his mausoleum in
the glittering prize in a millenium’s worth of holy wars, after all.
Mecca. Cheering crowds greeted Ibn Eisa as he embraced other
They probably took him out as pre-emptive self-defense. movement leaders and made the following brief statement.
> Hulagu “I have much work yet to do for Allah. In my time of
absence, I was granted a vision of a new path to take. The
> Israel’s been wary of the IUM since it coalesced, of course, Islamic Unity Movement has served its purpose. Our people
and they’ve been taking precautions from the get-go. Just last will soon be as one. Now it is time to look towards our ene-
week several key IUM personnel came down with a nasty case mies, those who would strike us down. I declare a new move-
of mysterious disappearance, and I’m willing to bet they were ment to carry forth Allah’s will. I declare a New Islamic Jihad!”
being shown hospitality by some Mossad agents. That could be //End File Attachment//
why Ibn Eisa was taking temporary residence at Makkah.
> Amitri > I think I’ll be moving to the Middle East soon. I see lots of job
opportunities opening up there in the near future.
> Well, Mossad isn’t known for playing nice. They’re one of the > Prime Runner
most cunning and brutally pragmatic of the world’s intelligence
agencies. Pulling a hit like that fits their style—they like to send a > Better watch out. Your infidel hoop might get hosed.
strong message. > Mirage
> Rubin
> I don’t buy it. Nobody returns from the dead. They must have
> Yeah, but they also just created a martyr, and that’s sure to staged it. Ibn Eisa must have serious cojones to pull a stunt like that.
come back and bite them in the hoop. > Tacks
> Tacks
> I dunno. I just checked some records. It looks like they actu-
[End Log] ally embalmed the fragger before they entombed him. And
[Begin Log : Middle East SIG : 7 September 2061 at 01:25:33 GMT] he’s already submitted to a host of scans, include a gene
match, to prove his identity.
> MERCIFUL ALLAH! > Amitri
> Ammar
> Yeah, computer records never lie.
> I’m with you, buddy. I’ve been monitoring the situation since > Sidewinder
I heard it half an hour ago. I just can’t believe it. This has to be
a hoax.
> They must have used magic to put him in suspended anima-
> Saevar tion. Are we sure he’s not a mage or adept?
> Viz
> Care to let us in on the inside joke??
> Tacks > If he was a mage, he used his magic more subtly than any
observer could detect. Regardless of how he staged his mar-
> Badr al Din Ibn Eisa has just risen from the dead! tyrdom in front of masses of people, the fact remains that he is
> Ammar now seen by almost all of Islam as the Prophet returned. Not
an easy feat.
> Get some sleep, Ammar. > Mahmoud
> Tacks
> I bet the Israelis are sweating blood right now. Serves them
> Holy drek on a stick. Scan this. The Middle East newsnets are right.
aflame with this news. Fire is raining down from every corner. But
it looks to be legit, not a hoax.
> Amitri
> Zook [End Log]

GHOST STORIES
y father used to say that when one door closes, somewhere else, another one opens. At
M the time, he was talking about opportunity, but I’m sure he’d agree that the saying fits
here, too. Chummers, what follows is a collection of documents on the newest and one of
the most mysterious power players ever to hit the limelight. Who is he? What does he want?
Where did he come from? Like a famous dead guy said, “A puzzle wrapped in a mystery inside
an enigma.” Or, as a chummer of mine used to say, “It ain’t what you know, but what you don’t
know that’ll slot you up in the end.”
> Captain Chaos
THE WATERGATE RIFT

> Someone “found” this buried in a pile of memos and reports from the Army Corps of
Thaumaturgists, who’ve been keeping tabs on the site in order to study the rift. Occasionally
they have to warn away the magically active who feel a need to come pay homage to the
site of President Dunkelzahn’s death, not to mention Humanis protestors and cult loonies. So
when things started getting weird, you can bet they sat up and took notice.
> Captain Chaos
From: Capt. Anson Betters

To: Lt. Col. Matthew Jameson
Date: 22 November 2061
Re: A summary of the recent activities at the Watergate Rift
Sir,
A review of our reports on the rift since September has turned up a trend that I feel bears
close watching. There has been an upswing of activity in and near the rift during the past few
months that is disturbing, to say the least. Coupled with the rising number of insurrections in
the wake of the appearance of SURGE, this situation warrants adding more personnel to the site
to prevent further violence and loss of life (as well as materiel). To give substance to my rec-

ommendation, I will list and summarize in this document sep- were destroyed, the rest escaped. After this incident we
arate accounts that, taken together, are very concerning. extended the rift cordon another 50 meters.
5 September 2061 > They should do more than that. They should ward the whole
At 0400 hours, during a change of shift in guard duty at thing in to keep these alien spirits from wandering in and out.
the site, those present witnessed and reported a “shimmering” > Spiritchaser
of the rift, making it appear to waver or ripple. Since the rift had
not exhibited such an activity before, it was duly noted in the 31 October/1 November 2061
logbook and a report filed. The mage on duty, Lt. Hansen, Coinciding with Halloween celebrations, more spirit
reported that when he astrally perceived the rift from his post, appearances and manifestations were observed near the rift
it had flared briefly and then pulsed in the space of a minute. during the course of the night. Due to the suddenness of their
He reported a slight sensation of “nausea and homesickness.” appearance and the difficulties in managing the celebrating
He further noted that this was the first night that Halley’s crowd, tracking astrally and physically ended up being an exer-
Comet has been visible to the naked eye. cise in futility.
At 0022, I was notified that a local Asian magician,
15 September 2061 whom I am told follows the wujen tradition, wished to speak
Those on duty reported another rippling at 1500 hours, with me. After granting some time to the man, he informed
with civilian witnesses as well. In addition, an unusual trio of me that his ancestor spirits were “very upset” and agitated.
spirit entities manifested approximately three meters away He went on to say that one of his ancestor spirits was espe-
from the rift in mid-air. A full description is noted in the report cially peeved, as he had recently died and his body had been
(#622-A-3G); in short, they appeared to be nebulous and stolen. This wujen’s ancestor had demanded that we be told
amoeboid, fainter than most apparitions. These entities swiftly that the “dead” were returning. Questioning the wujen on
moved off into astral space, breaking through our spirit patrol the differences between the “dead” and ancestor spirits sim-
perimeter. Astral pursuit proved unsuccessful. ply ended up with him repeating the warning emphatically
and gesturing towards the rift and the celebrations down the
> Great. You leave the door open, and pretty soon you’ve got street. Considering that many cultures from which magical
all sorts of bad elements wandering in. What’s next? Demons? traditions have sprung all have days like Halloween where
Brain-sucking spirit creatures? the dead purportedly return, I was not quite sure what to
> Waverley make of this. This matter, I confess, has greatly confused me,
sir. So far, we have not gotten any real corroborating evi-
2 October 2061 dence for this claim, as no one in the Corps follows a tradition
A Humanis demonstration calling for the detention and involving ancestor spirits, but all who had met the wujen
isolation of SURGE changelings became a riot after inflammato- magician say that he appeared neither mentally deficient nor
ry speeches were made and the crowd attempted to penetrate possessed at the time.
the rift cordon. You will have seen the reports on this already,
sir; I bring your attention to the unusual aspects of it that were > If only we had heeded their warnings …
kept from the media, namely the unusually heightened back- > Doc Cane
ground count. All spells cast at that time seemed to danger-
ously drain the mages working to quell the riot, while their ele- Since these events, other fluctuations in and around the rift
mentals and spirits refused orders and instead hovered near have been witnessed and documented, seeming to steadily
the rift until the insurrection had been laid to rest. grow in strength. The locals are growing more agitated as
more occurrences pop up, and it is becoming difficult to keep
13 October 2061 this under wraps. We have been asked at least once, already,
Visiting members of the DIMR, investigating the rift in what we intend to do about the recent activity around the
cooperation with our unit, witnessed an unusual incident. At Watergate rift; we need to make a show of strength in order to
1119 hours, a dozen or more spirit entities of the type prevent any more panics and dissuade demonstrations that
described above, along with another unidentified type resem- may incite riots. Hopefully we can keep the situation under
bling incandescent balls of light and numbering approximately control until a decision can be reached on what can be done
twenty, spontaneously appeared through the rift. Many of about the rift.
these spirits manifested on the physical plane, where they
drew the attention of the standard large crowd of onlookers ENTER THE DRAGON
gathered just outside our cordon. The spirits seemed to rush > Though I must consider Mooch a biased source, he was one
toward the crowd, sparking a panic that turned into yet anoth- of the only people I could get ahold of who had witnessed the
er riot, equally difficult to put down. In the end, we lost one of incident he is about to explain. For the record, Mooch is a con-
our people, First Lt. James Two-Hats, a Bear shaman. Civilian juring expert.
loss of life totaled eleven, with six more seriously wounded
> Captain Chaos
and one of our vehicles firebombed. A few of the alien spirits Transmitted: 25 December 2061 at 00:36:55 (PST)

by Mooch even try to stop them, they just watched them go by. And there
Okay, I’ll say it: I’m a fanboy. See, I like dragons. Anything were simply too many for the Army spellslingers to handle.
to do with dragons. If it’s got “dragon” in the title, whether it’s Now, you gotta understand that I’ve probably dealt with
a book, flatvid, chip, comic, trid, sim, t-shirt, tat, you name it— just about every spirit there is, ’cause if I haven’t conjured it, I’ve
I buy it. I read it. I wear it. I eat it. So I guess it’s no surprise talked to it or banished it. And I’ve never seen spirits like these
that Cap asked me to post what I saw Christmas Eve, right? before. I like to think I’m a fairly stone guy, that not a lot of drek
bothers me. But some of these things were just creepy. There
> Let me guess, Mooch here is a Child of the Dragon as well. was a sense of coldness, a chill that just flowed around ’em and
> Abyssinia seemed to be a part of them. Some looked like wormy things,
and others looked like slimy creatures from the depths of the
sea. They didn’t have the nasty taste I associate with toxics, but
> Actually, pop, no. I groove on the CotD’s message, and they
put on some scorchin’ parties, but I haven’t wandered from fan
they had some bone-numbing “I’m going to chew away your
sanity” feel that made most folks just steer clear. It was a wild
to fanatic yet.
scene, attracting my attention better than a car wreck.
> Mooch There seemed to be a kind of wall separating whatever
So anyway, there I am on Christmas Eve, hanging out in was inside the rift from the rest of the world, and it seemed to
front of the Watergate Hotel since that’s where President stretch and get thinner as more and more spirits came wisping
Dunkelzahn bit it, watching the localized manastorm that had out. And then there was a … a tearing, and through that
sprung into place around the rift. There was a big shindig pushed what looked like the astral head of a western dragon.
inside the Watergate that was celebrating the 50th anniver- I’ve never really met one before, but like I said before, I’m a
sary of the Awakening, but as you could probably guess, I dragon fanboy. This dragon seemed to be struggling and
wasn’t on the guest list. Me and my buddy Lee decided to go straining, like it was in a lot of pain, and I could even see the
to the party going on outside and whoop it up with a bunch rest of the rift straining with it. Finally, though, it seemed to
of other folks. A couple chummers would get a little misty- completely give, splitting wide open as the dragon’s astral
eyed, talking about the Big D and how he’d be trying to help form launched through.
SURGE changelings if he were still alive right now, drek like The dragon was huge and a really pale white, almost
that, and then someone else’d come along, stick a mug of ghostly lookin’. It could’ve been because of the lights of the
soy-nog in their hand and say, “Drink up!” And then they’d manastorm it just came through, but it had a bluish-silver
be laughing and having fun again; it was one of those parties. shimmer on its astral scales. It must’ve been acting like a dam,
And I tell ya, the lights from that rift lit up the place prettier too, because right behind it came a big, boiling mass of more
than those cheapass foam and plastic wreaths and drek they spirits. There were all kinds—at least half of which I’d also
had all over the place. never encountered.
What’d I tell you? Yeah, I was totally tapping astral for this At that point I saw a few astral mages fly in close, check-
little soiree, and it was wizzer. Even the Army boys had relaxed ing it all out. They must’ve been Army boys, trying to figure
their guard a little, though there was about twice as many on out what the heck to do. Doesn’t matter, though, because the
scene as they normally had. What a downer to be workin’ dragon, probably not in its right mind after what it’d just been
Christmas Eve. At least it was at the Watergate … where was through, swooped over and ate ’em. Gulp. Just like that. I did-
I? Oh yeah, what happened at the rift. n’t even think that was possible!
Chummer, that was the most wizzer-scary thing I’d ever I think he sorta woke up after that, and realized what he’d
seen. I nearly drekked my shorts. Lee had just started talking done. All I know is that he didn’t seem too happy; he bel-
up this joygirl wearing nothing but strings of blinking lights, lowed, and I heard more than a few chummers around me
when he looks up and fragging near swallows his tongue. You gasp in pain. I realized then that his astral form was manifest,
know the look, right? Since I was facing him, I had to turn and that the entire crowd could see him. Most of the crowd
around to see what’d made his jaw drop. And that’s right was mesmerized or paralyzed, hard to tell which, but a few
when the rift apparently decided to remind us all that it’s a bolted like the world was ending.
twisted mutation of nature, because it flared so bright some But the dragon, well, he just took off, too, and lit out towards
were struck blind for at least a minute. I even think a few chum- the west like a bat outta hell. I know, because I had Lee grab me
mers were literally stunned. The view on the astral wasn’t as while I went totally astral, and followed him. Yeah, I know, kinda
bright, so I was spared the glare, but it was an emotional and stupid after I’d just watched the dragon slurp up a snack, but I
sensory bombardment. It was like having an orgasm while couldn’t help it. I wasn’t the only one who followed him, either.
simultaneously giving birth and getting murdered. We zoomed out west behind him, passing sprawls, farms and
The rift bulged and rippled, and I could tell that something drek … and then we lost him. He was just too freaking fast for us
was trying to push through it. It was like watching something to keep up with. We tried, though. I ended up somewhere in the
being born. Bluish-white light glowed all around it, with silvery Rockies before I decided to turn tail and go back.
bolts crisscrossing it now and then. As I watched, I saw a few And after all that, you know what? All I wanna know is,
spirits start to leak from it, pulling themselves out and streaking now that I’ve seen the news of what happened after he took
away into the world. The Army spirits that were on hand didn’t off, what the frag is in Colorado?

> Okay, something that’s been bugging me from the beginning Ace: Holy son of a lizard!
about this. The Army Corps of Thaumaturgists have known for a S. Crosbie: Huh? What … oh wow. Carl, get that camera
while now that the DeeCee rift was getting unstable, judging up! Hurry!
from that report. When things got worse, why didn’t they just
[Helicopter drone grows slightly louder, trideo comes
online with a blurry image.]
shut the area down?
S. Crosbie: It’s … what is that? Oh wow, it’s some huge,
> Bandit white dragon, and he’s headed right for the teocalli! Come on,
hurry up with that camera!
> Tough to do, guy. There are a lot of folks who took it hard [No reply, camera’s view swings in and out of focus.]
when President Dunkelzahn bought the farm, and the rift S. Crosbie: Any word from tower on who it is? Can’t be
marks the spot in a really visible way. It’s like visiting a holy Hestaby … No? Frag. So no one knows … I’ll have to wing
shrine, for them. The Army does a decent job of keeping them the intro.
far away—but how far away is safe? Not to mention that the Carl: Jus’ git yer facts straight, Summer.
rift is right smack next to the Watergate, and a lot of other S. Crosbie: [distracted] Mm-hmm, yeah … what’s that
business and foot traffic. Shutting it all down would draw mas- coming from the teocalli?
sive protests. [Muffled reply from the cockpit.]
On top of that, there’s a small turf war going on over who S. Crosbie: Drones? What kind?
gets to study the rift. There aren’t that many gaping holes lead- [Another muffled reply]
ing in to gods-know-where in the world, and so the right to S. Crosbie: Scouts and TADS? Oh, yeah, I know what
study them up close is a hot commodity.
those are. Did a report on Aztechnology once. Drek! That drag-
on just fireballed the teocalli! Amazing—get closer, Ace! Get us
> Socio Pat nearer to the action. Frag that drek about airspace!
[Rumble and explosion in the background.]
> The scary thing is that the rift is still open and active. Who S. Crosbie: [shrieking] Carl, get that hoop-fragging cam-
knows what’s going to crawl through it next? era online or I swear to Christ I’ll sacrifice you on that teocalli
> Miss Tick myself! We just missed a spectacular shot! That … that dragon
took a missile—a fragging missile, Carl!—on the chin! And it’s
RAMPAGE IN DENVER! still going! Do you hear me?
> We caught a transcript of this as well as the video feed sec- Carl: Summer, stick it up yer hoop or yer holdin’ this drek-
onds after it was uploaded into KSAF’s Matrix host for later trans- eatin’ camera. Almost got it. An’ the dragon looked pretty
mission. Naturally, we’ve got the unedited version for your fraggin’ surprised, you ask me. So yer little award-winnin’ fra-
amusement and amazement. Merry Christmas. cas ain’t goin’ away anytime soon.
> Captain Chaos S. Crosbie: [muttering and sighing] Fine, fine. But you get
Transmitted: 25 December 2061 at 00:21:13 (PST) awards outta this too, you know. Are we on yet?
[Unintelligible noise. Camera blurs then focuses on heli-
//Begin File// copter floor, then swings to view outside. Background noises:
Transcript 339, “live” transmission, edit for content, no promo or thrumming helicopter blades, distant explosions.]
trailer. S. Crosbie: About fragging time.
[Tech note: edit images for clarity] [Camera swings to frame Summer Crosbie. Crosbie push-
[Audio only] es whipping blonde hair from her face.]
S. Crosbie: [yawns] Can you believe this drek? This is boring. S. Crosbie: This is Summer Crosbie with KSAF News,
We’re missing prime stories about the Awakening anniversary Denver. We are live over Aztlan sector airspace and watching
parties, and for what? A few cruddy shots of the Aztec teocalli? one of the most amazing events to have occurred in Denver
[Muttered replies, rattle of equipment in the background.] since the late President Dunkelzahn made his first appearance
S. Crosbie: A scoop? Right. I didn’t know you had a chip at Cherry Creek Lake. Carl, get a shot of this …
habit, Carl. We’re hovering out here in the dark. The only thing [Camera moves view to outside helicopter. Frame and
keeping Ace up there from crashing us into the Rockies is the zoom in on Aztec teocalli. Large white blur streaks by, blue
full moon … lightning blasts the top of the teocalli.]
[Indistinct sarcastic reply.] S. Crosbie: Holy! Did you get that shot? Okay, what we just
S. Crosbie: Hey, not my fault you’re quick on the stick. witnessed was a dragon—huge, white—frag, he needs a name.
[sighing] Carl, might as well get that camera up and “film to the Make a note of that. This dragon just now approached—Drek,
east.” Jeez-ah, what kind of vague order is that? this may in fact be the same dragon that was reported as claw-
[Grunted response, more tech rattling.] ing its way through the Dunkelzahn Rift in DeeCee just an hour
S. Crosbie: Yeah, yeah. Look, just make sure you get that or so ago!
teocalli in the frame-up, all right? With luck, maybe we can cut [Another shot of the teocalli, clearer focus on the dragon.
this short and get back to the real action. A SAM streaks from the teocalli at the dragon, which dodges,
wings beating furiously.]

S. Crosbie: Frag, that was intense. This dragon began attack- teocalli. I’ve got to have a good close-up of what’s left of it.
ing the Aztec teocalli in the Aztlan sector several minutes ago. What? Oh, whatever—fine, we’ll get that later. But we follow
Shortly after, a fleet of Aztechnology assault and TADS drones the dragon, okay? Where’s he off to now?
were launched for a counterattack—what’s happening now? [Camera swings from the crashed Aguilar back to the
[Zoom in on three approaching aircraft; two Aztechnology Halcón, which zooms past, firing off a missile. A monstrous
Aguilar helicopters and one Halcón ground-attack aircraft.] ball of fire materializes in its path, scorching the craft and start-
S. Crosbie: It appears as if Aztechnology will be attempting an engine blaze. As the fighter streaks off to safety, the
ing an air battle soon … dragon casually slips past the missile and veers off, beating its
[Noise from cockpit.] wings rapidly.
S. Crosbie: Sounds like we’re being hailed. Crank it up, S. Crosbie: The dragon is now headed north, towards
would you? downtown. No wait, he’s veered off towards the Aztechnology
Unidentified Voice: … helicopter. We insist that you clear Building. Is he going to do what I think he is?
out of Aztlan airspace. You are in violation of— [The camera zooms in on one of the Aztechnology
S. Crosbie: Skip it. They can take a flying frag. This story’s rooftop helipads, where a Lobo LAV is taking off. The dragon
too important to worry about their twisting panties. They’re too pauses for the space of a few wing beats, after which the air
busy with the dragon to really worry about us anyway. next to him shimmers.]
[Distant wavery screeching sound.] S. Crosbie: They’re going to pull out all the stops. I almost
S. Crosbie: Whoa, Jake? You’re the magic man. Explain feel sorry for him. I wonder if he even knows what he’s in for?
that, would you? [Three laser beams strike out from turrets near the
[Camera zooms in on the dragon, shrugging off strafing Aztechnology roof, leaving black welts across the dragon’s
bullets, hovering over the teocalli with an indistinct form strug- side. As the dragon roars in rage, a barrage of missiles launch-
gling in its grasp.] es towards him. They converge, and then are stopped by an
Jake: That’s amazing. Perceiving astrally—by the Mother! invisible force where they explode, just meters away from the
The dragon is pulling a spirit of great power from the teocalli! dragon. The dragon falters as the force of the blast ripples the
It’s red about the edges, like a glow, or streaked in blood. air, then streaks once more towards the building.]
Whatever it is, it’s putting up a great fight! S. Crosbie: Okay, maybe not. Frag, he’s tough! He … eh?
S. Crosbie: Sure looks like it from my end, too. Jesus, it’s No drek? Apparently, according to our mage, Jake, the dragon
screaming! whistled up a great form air elemental out of, ah, thin air.
[A drone and Aguilar fly into the camera’s view, perform- [The LAV launches a missile of its own towards the drag-
ing a diving maneuver at the dragon. With an annoyed air, the on, who drops down under it and then pops back up to toss a
dragon lets go of the fighting free spirit to claw both vehicles lightning bolt in return. It hits the hull and rocks the LAV, mak-
out of the sky. The spirit bolts away before it can be retrieved.] ing a brief technicolor display as smoke and sparks indicate
S. Crosbie: [chuckling] Whoops, there’s the “one that got fried electronics.]
away,” and our dragon sure looks slotted off. S. Crosbie: Nova! That was absolute beauty. It’s like fight-
[Deafening explosion; five seconds of static.] ing a ghost. And we’re the first on the scene with this! Can you
S. Crosbie: … completely demolished! I repeat, the drag- get a little closer?
on just completely demolished the Aztec teocalli! This is un- [Garbled exclamation from the cockpit.]
fragging-believable! Carl, you’d better get a good feed on this. S. Crosbie: Just asking! Drek. I know they’re launching
Awards are at stake! missiles all over the place …
[View switches from the dragon dodging hails of bullets [Loud zooming noise as an aircraft speeds by the KSAF
and missiles to what’s left of the pyramid. Blasted and burning helicopter. It bucks in the wake, making the camera jiggle.]
sandstone, brickwork and other unnamable materials lie on the S. Crosbie: Auugh! Never mind, we’re close enough!
site of the smoking remains of the teocalli. Somewhere, an air- Just worry about keeping this thing steady before we get
raid siren wails.] shaken to pieces!
S. Crosbie: As you can see, nothing remains. How could [The view steadies and refocuses in time to see another
that have been done? I don’t see—what’s that, Jake? Cripes, Halcón do a flyby, positioning itself for another attack with a
you’re telling me a spell wrecked it? Oh frag—hey, where’d all fire elemental following it close behind. The dragon wings
these spirits come from?! around to another side of the building to maneuver away; one
Jake: This is very strange … there’s a mixture of spirits of the helipads explodes as if hit by a massive force. Chunks of
here like I’ve never seen before. Elementals … I see two sylphs the building fall dozens of stories to the street below.]
and a salamander. Is that? Oh yes, we’ve got a wind spirit and S. Crosbie: Did I say that this was wiz? Because it is—
a storm spirit, even. [The LAV, apparently recovered, maneuvers into a good
[Another explosion; camera finds the source, an Aguilar position and opens up with a minigun. A fusillade of bullets
with a missing tail. It spins as it begins falling, engine straining spang away from the dragon, a sylph acting as his shield. He
and failing.] takes off away from the Aztechnology building, and a flotilla of
S. Crosbie: Make sure we’re not going to be hit by any Wandjina RPVs rise in pursuit. Arcing around, the dragon turns
falling helicopters, and then see if you can’t head closer to the east, heading directly towards the camera.]

S. Crosbie: The dragon rampages on, unleashing its fury him Ghostwalker. He did not reappear for several days, during
on the Aztechnology building and other targets—oh drek, he’s which time Aztlan representatives accused the UCAS of terror-
coming right at us! Ace, get the frag out of— ism, as it was from the UCAS that Ghostwalker had allegedly
[As the dragon flashes past, a wing drops towards the been sent. UCAS officials denied the accusation, citing that they
camera, filling the frame. The camera goes dark.] were as perplexed by the event as Aztlan.
//End File//
> If you thought the Council was tense before, after
“GHOSTWALKER 1, DENVER 0” Ghostwalker’s rampaging it got downright hostile. There was
> Our chummers at the Nexus clued us in to the Rocky the Aztlan Council rep Hector Ramirez at one end of the table
Mountain Post’s reliability and unbiased reporting—as in, they looking like he was going to rain napalm death on Jeremy
have none. So we took the liberty of digging up the original ver- Falloon, the UCAS Council rep, on the other end. And true to
sion before the Monitoring Office’s tender loving editing care form, Falloon, not knowing what the drek was going on, was
had been applied. I’ve opened this one up for comments, but about ready to spit nails. Even Betty Kalheim, the CAS yes-
keep the speculations out; there’ll be a SIG set up just to han- woman, got a little icy.
dle that. I know how you chummers love to talk.
> Drac
> Captain Chaos
Transmitted: 26 January 2062 at 14:57:19 (PST) After a three-day hiatus, Ghostwalker resurfaced over the
UCAS sector. The destruction began anew as he singled out a
by Mitchell Douglas, Rocky Mountain Post, 26 January 2062 high-rise residence and firebombed it. Half a dozen residents
The big question on everyone’s mind in Denver is: When were killed, their bodies reduced to fine ash in an intense blaze
will the conflict end? Since appearing a month ago, the drag- that threatened to spread had not firefighters stopped it in
on dubbed “Ghostwalker” has conducted a campaign of terror, time. Among the presumed dead is Glennis Shand, leader of
leading many to question their faith in dragonkind. This is def- the Unity policlub in the CAS sector.
initely a different dragon than our late UCAS President
Dunkelzahn, who had made his own first documented appear- > I was just down the street when this happened. I heard shouts,
ance here in the Mile-High City fifty years ago tomorrow at the and looked out the window to see this fraggin’ dragon battling
Cherry Creek Lake State Park. Where did this new dragon some kind of powerful spirit. The sight of the spirit struck fear into
come from? What are his motives behind the war he wages
my heart. It was a deep black with pinpoints of light within its
with Denver?
form, and it just oozed coldness and inhumanity. Ghostwalker
Several weeks ago, on Christmas Eve, the astral form of
rent it to pieces, scattering it on the winds of the astral. May the
Ghostwalker was spotted emerging from the astral rift in front
of the Watergate Hotel in the FDC in the UCAS, the same site Lord have mercy.
at which the much-revered late president Dunkelzahn met > Espiritu
with his end. After inciting panic, he turned and flew west,
where his manifest astral form was spotted several times en > Night falls, and the other realms open to embrace their child.
route to Denver. Somewhere along the way, he picked up his > Choi-Mu
material body—which leads one to wonder where exactly
he’s been and where the heck he’s been hiding his body this > Whoah. Did I miss the line for free peyote or something? What
whole time. were those posts about? And if Ms. Shand’s touchy-feely poli-
He then appeared over Denver in the Aztlan Sector, club (sarcasm is so fun) is set in the CAS sector, then what’s she
where he immediately engaged in an attack, completely doing with a place in the UCAS sector?
destroying the Aztec teocalli and damaging the
> Quinn
Aztechnology building. Next he headed into the CAS sector,
where he engaged with the CAS border security, but then
broke off and disappeared.
> Got me, chummer, on both counts.
> Eagle-Eye
> What a dogfight that was. I only got to see part of that tan- > I’ve heard other, similar reports as well. Always a friend of a
gle with the CAS before the dragon poofed, but I tell ya, I ain’t
friend saw something of a titanic battle between Ghostwalker
seen nothin’ like it before. Heard a rumor that Ghostwalker had
and a powerful, unknown spirit. At least one of these reports I
used an invisibility spell, somethin’ so good even the on-duty
heard came from Pueblo, along with a claim that the dragon
mages didn’t know if he was still kickin’ around or had taken a
had challenged a border guard there. The rest of the stories I
stray shot and flown on to the Happy Dragon Grounds.
feel more inclined to dismiss; I related these to a shaman I
> CASper know, and he feels that, at least in comparison to the Pueblo
It was then that the media, due to the dragon’s behavior as story and the account listed above, the spirits in the other tales
well as his coloration and seeming affinity with spirits, named were less powerful. If it weren’t for the fact that Ghostwalker

has been seen summoning spirits, I’d say that he was hunting only thing tying these incidences together is the fact that all have
them for some unknown reason. been relatively high-profile, leaving many people terrified of
> Marley enduring another attack. Even the Council Hall, located in the
Aztlan sector and brought to nothing but rubble yesterday, has
Bolstering the idea that he may be targeting Unity, not been exempt. Other places targeted and/or destroyed in the
Ghostwalker struck their headquarters in the CAS sector almost past few weeks include: Pueblo Corporate Council sector presi-
immediately afterwards. By the time sector security had arrived dent Julio Caron’s home, various locations within Chinatown
on scene, ready to do battle, the dragon had seemingly finished (CAS), Denver Foodstuffs, Inc. (Sioux), the Rocky Mountain
what it set out to do. Security forces report that he had paused Arsenal (UCAS), Lakeside Amusement Park (Ute), Ares
long enough to magically sow confusion, indirectly causing dam- Macrotech subsidiary Ares Arms (CAS) and Ft. Carson (PCC).
age as drivers of vehicles collided or crashed, and then disap- Less than a week after these attacks began, however, in a
peared once more. In the wake of the attack, representatives of move that surprised many, both the UCAS and the Sioux stood
the Humanis policlub voiced their sympathy for Unity’s loss, stat- down from the fight, ordering their people not to attack
ing that it was “ … a sad state of affairs for humanity. We are Ghostwalker outright. Both nations even exhorted the other gov-
besieged on all sides by the radically different, who would like ernments to let the dragon be, arguments that have been ignored
nothing more than to see us become a mere footnote in history.” in favor of returning fire against the ghost-like western dragon.
> Freaky, considering Humanis and Unity had been at each > Now, I can understand the desire not to piss off a great drag-
other’s throats since ’52. I guess this time they figured they had on, but that stand-down order smacks of string-pulling to me.
to stand up for “one of their own.” Anyone got the full download?
> Jackie > Edmar
These have been just the tip of the iceberg of Ghostwalker’s
guerilla tactics. Displaying a phenomenal magical arsenal con-
> I’ve heard the orders came from high up. The buzz is Nadja
Daviar issued the UCAS orders, while the Sioux orders came
sisting of a vast repertoire of spells, the powers innate to him as
directly from Lucinda Gray Arrow, the Sioux rep to the Denver
a dragon and the ability to rally or summon a wide selection of
Council.
spirits, wyverns and even thunderbirds on one occasion, each
sector has been targeted at least once, apparently randomly. The > Jacob

> I thought Mary Cat Dancing was the Sioux rep. Don’t tell me file or nearly so. That means he carried out attacks against
that that ancient dominatrix finally died after all these centuries! places with a higher concentration of people, or that were
> Papillon extremely public and likely not to go unnoticed whether the
number of people there is twenty or twenty thousand. This is a
> You’re not from Denver, are you chummer? No, Mary Cat tactic common with terrorists, especially those with causes.
Dancing is still alive, though she looks like she should have died Some of those other sites, like Lakeside Amusement Park,
several decades ago. She stepped down after a 5-year term however, don’t have a very big “visibility factor.” I agree that
on the Council, and has reportedly been fighting off a bout of they don’t really make sense. But since this is a dragon we’re
cancer. She remains in Denver, though, and she’s still a power talking about, more than likely there are factors to this story that
player. Lucinda was her replacement. we’re not seeing. Perhaps he’s settling an old score.
> Jacob > Argent
Even so, while the Aztlan and CAS sectors are calling for
> Wait a minute—Ghostwalker attacked the Rocky Mountain dragon blood, the Ute and Pueblo Corporate Council sectors
Arsenal? I thought that was abandoned.
have rescinded their “attack upon sight” orders and adopted
> Bullwinkle a self-defense, wait-and-see strategy. Reliable sources, speak-
ing on terms of anonymity, say that tomorrow the Council will
> Apparently not. When Ghostwalker attacked, that’s when he convene with Ghostwalker in attendance in order to reach a
had those thunderbirds with him. Their natural EMP-like abilities peaceful solution.
scrambled the systems of a lot of the aircraft and ground equip- “We believe that Ghostwalker, while his tactics may be
ment that suddenly came boiling out to defend. My guess is unorthodox, is acting upon honorable intentions,” said the
that it was the base of a smuggling ring, with the UCAS turning UCAS Representative Jeremy Falloon. “It is my hope that, when
a blind eye to what was happening so long as they got their cut. the time does come for talks, all parties may lay aside their dif-
> Leggy ferences and work together for the common good.” Mr. Falloon
is currently engaged in confidential talks with UCAS Vice
President Nadja Daviar, who is visiting Denver.
> How much did the UCAS pay you for that cover story Leggy?
Truth be told, the UCAS was using the Arsenal as a secret mili-
tary base and training facility—after all, the Treaty of Denver > I happened to check into some travel records, and I noticed
that Veep Daviar just happened to arrive in Denver early in the
bans military units from the FRFZ.
morning on the 24th. Is this a coincidence that she just hap-
> Shelley
pened to arrive on a visit to “take care of Draco Foundation
business” the day Ghostwalker appeared?
> Do you honestly think the UCAS could get away with hiding a
military installation? Leggy is right on target—it was a smuggling > Pipeline
ring, though most of their business was headed down south According to Sioux representative Lucinda Gray Arrow,
towards Aztlan, the Yucatan and Amazonia. The Rocky “Fighting fire with fire is well and good in a war against your
Mountain Arsenal was one of the major sources for the guns enemies, but we do not consider Ghostwalker to be our
and technology that flow in a pipeline to all kinds of rebel enemy. The entire Front Range Free Zone is at stake here, and
groups in the South American countries. The UCAS had been not just our respective sectors. It is time to put out the fire,
doing more than turning a blind eye. It was all but selling them before we are consumed.”
direct, wholesale. Aztlan Council representative Hector Ramirez disagreed.
> Southern Cross “We have been subjected to terrorism of the worst kind. No
one feels safe anymore. How can we reassure our people that
> Pity about Jammer and his crew. They woulda told us all years the dragon will suddenly change its mind? It is an unrealistic
ago if they hadn’t been geeked. expectation. We must be ready to defend our home and, if
necessary, bring this threat to an end.”
> Louis To that end, Aztlan airlifted military forces earlier this
week from Manchaca to their sector in the Front Range Free
> Can anyone explain Ghostwalker’s choice of targets? They Zone, a move that has created an uproar. Over voices of
don’t make a whole lot of sense.
protest, the CAS has begun doing the same, flying troops and
> Bouncing Betty equipment from Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene as well as
other bases they’ve taken control of since splitting from the
> I’ll give it a shot, based on stories I’ve heard, speculation and old United States.
good old-fashioned tactics. “What [Aztlan] has done is in direct violation of the Treaty
Some of those targets make sense if your goal is to put the of Denver. As such, we are now only protecting ourselves and
fear of God—or rather, fear of Ghostwalker—into your opposi- our own interests,” declared Elizabeth Kalheim, the CAS rep-
tion. The reporter himself said that all the targets were high-pro- resentative to the Council of Denver. “Although we cannot

support the actions of the Aztlan sector leaders and the lead- > How the heck did the Azzies airlift military in? Wouldn’t the
ers back in Aztlan proper, we must unfortunately agree that CAS have shot them down as soon as they stepped into CAS
entire trust in Ghostwalker without adequate defense is whol- airspace?
ly misplaced.”
> Tenser
> There goes the neighborhood … > You bet. The Azzies snuck a few transports in by camouflag-
> Ranger ing them as legitimate commercial vehicles, passing right
through Pueblo or CAS airspace. The rest they dropped in via
> Aww frag. Now everybody’s gonna jump on the bandwagon suborbital. Lucky for the Azzies they revamped their Denver air-
and wanna bring in troops too. I mean, why not? Treaty’s
port to handle suborbital and semiballistic traffic a few years
already been violated, why not just go all the way? And I had
ago.
a hot date planned this weekend, too.
> Irving
> CASper
When asked about the situation, the Ute rep to the
Council, William Huhuseca, responded that though the
Ute planned on abiding by the truce, they would also
bring in military forces. “We must remain on our
guard, that neither Aztlan nor the CAS will attempt any
THE WYRMS TALK takeovers by military force. We plan on keeping our
defenses tight until such a time that we can be sure the
Posted: 01-02-62 dangers have passed,” he said.
The remaining Council member, Jonathan Popé,
Hestaby: “Ghostwalker … is a presence that has been sorely needed could not be reached for comment, nor could PCC sec-
in the Sixth World. I only wish that he could have returned sooner. His tor president Caron.
actions in Denver are not entirely unexpected. In all frankness, were
any of us put in a similar stressful position, we would do the same. > That’s because Caron is hiding; after his house got
However, times have changed. May he resolve things to his satisfac- demolished, you can bet he’s keeping a really low pro-
tion, and quickly.” file until it looks like the situation’s done. As for Popé? I
can only guess that he’s too busy burying his head in the
Hualpa: “Ghostwalker has been rash, but I admit to some admiration sand and hoping the dragon’ll go away.
for his tactics. They are bold and unexpected, and display great cun- > Firelight
ning worthy of his respected sire. I urge him to caution, however. He
may be stepping on toes best left untouched.” > If that’s right, then the PCC may start looking for a
new sector rep on the Council (assuming there will still
Lofwyr: “No comment.” be one tomorrow) soon. Pueblo as a whole may not
have all the attitude of the Sioux, but they also can’t
Lung: “Greetings to the one who has returned. Retake what is yours,
afford to look like cowards.
but do not forget that which belongs to others.”
> Reid
Masaru: “We have not met yet, but I feel a kinship with Ghostwalker With the Treaty of Denver violated by Aztlan, a
nonetheless. It is my hope that we may find the time to visit with one great deal of concern has been aired about the sta-
another and exchange ideas. Perhaps they are not dissimilar. I wish bility of the Front Range Free Zone. Though all repre-
him luck.” sentatives have sworn that Denver will continue to
run as it has, it is worth noting that security on all bor-
Mujaji: “What can be said of Ghostwalker that has not already been ders has been increased significantly. In many cases,
said? He is not unknown to us. But he has a great many things yet to this has slowed down operations as workers and reg-
learn. I can only convey my formal greetings to him.” ular travelers between sectors have not been able to
reach their respective destinations until several hours
Rhonabwy: “I issue my condolences for his loss.” later than normal.
Ryumyo: “A flighty one with the weight of years behind him.
Ghostwalker may find his appearance not unplanned for, and old
> It also means that running a border crossing with con-
traband or uninvited guests is more dangerous.
alliances may be forged anew or crumbled to dust. Salutations, Lost
Smuggling rates just got jacked through the roof, and
One. Plan wisely.”
free traders can pick and choose their job offers.
> Zack

“What Aztlan has done is reprehensible. They may be con- grabbed my focus away from the job at hand. Couldn’t be for
cerned about Ghostwalker, but the rest of us are more con- my guy, unless he’d been given reason to become a paranoid
cerned about being able to come back to a secure home with- son of a slitch … and there was no chance of that happening.
out fear of another sector moving in to take over,” complained I’m too good. So I kept watch, wondering when the other
one citizen on condition of anonymity. “Who’s to say that the shoe would drop and thinking some bigwig like Jeremy
whole treaty won’t get chucked out the window?” Falloon (you laugh, but I got stories about that slag) was here
to have a little rendezvous.
A MEETING OF MINDS But ’lo, what to my wondering eyes did appear, but one
> This next piece comes by way of Priest, whom many of you in SilveryK and a black elf with white hair!
the Denver scene may be familiar with. Priest used to be a
Jesuit, and he was trained by some of the best deckers and > Someone stop him now, before he adapts the rest of the “The
code-breakers that order ever put out. He couldn’t hack the Night Before Christmas”…
lifestyle, though, and took himself and his talents where he felt > Momma Goose
pretty sure even the Vatican would hesitate to go—the Nexus.
Though he has an admitted weakness for nuyen that led him to > Hold on a tic—SilveryK? I thought she’d gotten herself
the shadows, his cracking abilities are considerably above par. installed at the Nexus. What’s she doing wandering around the
UCAS sector, besides picking up someone who sounds like a
> Captain Chaos
Transmitted: 27 January 2062 at 16:40:19 (PST) photo-negative of herself?
> Lara
by Priest
First off, let me start out by saying that, over the years, I’ve > How are we even sure it was SilveryK? Could’ve been anybody.
been accused of being all kinds of drek, true or not. Word gets
> D. Thomas
around, so I know that my credibility’s tarnished. I’m not a jerk
until cred is on the line. So think about that as you read this
post, and you decide if you want to hang around and listen to
> How many sexy albino hotshot female ice-slicers are there,
Thomas? Trust me, it was her. I’d know her anywhere. It’s cliché,
an old school hacker like me.
but we’ve got history.
> Bastard. You still owe me 100 nuyen. > Priest

> Shiva Naturally, this aroused my curiosity. For a moment, I was
torn between attempting to keep tabs on what SilveryK and her
Christmas day, I was at the Brown Palace Hotel in the UCAS
friend were doing at the Brown Palace and keeping a lookout
sector. For the benefit of all you wags who’ve never been to
for my meal ticket. That’s when I saw, I drek you not, UCAS
Denver, the UCAS sector, or the Brown, it’s one of the swankiest,
Veep Nadja Daviar show up with some huge, sculpted-looking
most posh hotels to stay at in the FRFZ. All over the place, you
red-haired beefcake slag on her arm, apparently following yet
can see antiques and expensive objets d’art placed strategically
another guy. This one was shorter than Ms. Daviar’s companion,
to enhance the look of the rooms in which they’re put, like a
a spare but slightly stocky human … compact, I guess you could
SWAT team of interior decorators ran through the hotel with
call him. I couldn’t shake a distinct feeling of power associated
rulers, cloth swatches and auction catalogs. Because of all that,
with him. His hair was an odd shade of blonde; it looked almost
it’s very expensive to stay there, so you know most of the peo-
white, and reminded me of pictures I’d seen once of glaciers
ple who stay there are the rich and powerful. The management,
and polar icecaps. His eyes, which fortunately I could see
however, doesn’t seem to know or care that their Matrix securi-
because of the very sweet SOTA cameras I was looking through,
ty is lousy, which made my job at the time a walk in the park.
were a very sharp and penetrating blue.
You see, I had a particular little pigeon to look for, so I had
Of course, the reason I could see this so well, camera or
made myself nice and comfy in the Brown’s security camera
no camera, is because he decided to look straight up into the
slave node. He was bound to come along, even with it being
lens—as in, right at it, directly, no mistake. That gave me the
Christmas, just because he was that type of slag. A real
willies and made me seriously consider that it was time to cut
Scrooge, making me work when I could’ve been unwrapping
and run, or at least judiciously turn my attention elsewhere.
goodies at home … but since it was fat birds like him from
Namely, where it belonged: my nuyen-gaining job. I just about
whom I took the cred that paid for those goodies, I couldn’t
gave that thought another spin on the neural carousel when I
bring myself to feel too aggrieved.
saw him turn to talk to thin air. Yeah, I know, I can hear it; you
Now, when I started seeing a few professional muscle
sure he was talking? Let me put it to you this way—his lips
types, you’ll be understanding if I say I thought they were for
were moving, sound was coming out, and there wasn’t anyone
my target. But after scoping a few out as they entered and
that I could see, at least, that he was addressing. As for what
mingled, I realized there were actually a lot of them, and they
he said, if you want to find out you’ll have to send me a few
were being especially discreet. In fact, they kept on coming,
nuyen. Information may want to be free, but this data will have
each acting more well-trained than the last, giving the Brown
to buy its way out of captivity first.
a thorough once, twice and thrice-over. Naturally, this

Anyway, I had one hand on the disconnect button and the another dragon. Not to mention that their coloration is different.
other on the keystroke to switch cameras, debating which > Tiamat
course of action was better for my health and peace of mind,
when the last man in walks up to our blonde oddball. This last > I can buy zombies, but a zombie dragon is taking it a bit too
guy was a halfer who was so ugly that I imagine he stands out far. I think it’s much more likely that Ghostwalker is taking up the
anywhere he goes—not only would children run away from reins of the former President’s contacts network.
him, but I’d expect grown men to. He had dirty blonde hair
pulled back into a braid that rested on his shoulder, a prize-
> Conspir-I-See
fighter’s nose, bugged-out eyes and a harelip. I was afraid the
camera would bust. He looked more than capable of picking up > You guys all need to take your medication, you’re seeing
conspiracies everywhere. Maybe SilveryK merely owes the
and tossing Ms. Daviar’s date, but he was fairly deferential
towards Mr. Blonde Guy. Draco Foundation a debt, and she came along for the ride on
So who exactly was this motley crew? I’ve got some guess- this meeting to make sure everything was on the up-and-up.
es, but I’ll give you one for free. On hindsight, I think Mr. Talks- Why look for a complex scenario when the truth may be sim-
to-Air must have been Ghostwalker, jandering around in human ple?
form. The rest I will leave up to speculation and your credstick. > Firelight
[9.2 Mp deleted by SysOp] > C’mon, you chummers act like you’d never read the will
> Don’t make me regret opening this file. Keep the explosions before. The way Dunkelzahn had it all set up, I’d be willing to bet
to yourselves. that this little “welcome-back” meeting was jotted down some-
> Captain Chaos where in whatever super-safe notes he gave to Ms. Daviar
“I am everywhere!” before he kicked off. Dragons always think way ahead of time.
It would certainly explain why Daviar showed up in Denver just
> Okay. If we grant that this is true and not some practical joke, a few hours before Ghostwalker did. I bet Dunkelzahn knew all
then the “black elf with white hair” must be Aina Dupree, Vice- about this. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he
Chairperson for the Draco Foundation. She’s the only one I’ve reserved the hotel’s conference room before he died.
heard of described like that, and with Vice President Daviar, who Who will take odds that the next meeting Ghostwalker
is the Chairperson and Head, there as well, it only makes sense. goes to is going to have a bunch of other dragons in it?
Don’t ask me who Ms. Daviar was with, however. For all I know, > Dragonslayer
he could just be her joyboy. Same with Ghostwalker’s friend.
> Lara > Hey, I found out something interesting after combing through
the DeeCee society column. That big hunky slag Ms. Daviar
> Yeah, but that now begs the question—assuming this is right, had with her is named “Ryan,” and he’s supposed to be some
why were they meeting? I could see where the Draco wizzer adept. (And looking at that body, I’m not real surprised.)
Foundation might have an interest in talking to Ghostwalker, They started going out and being seen with each other some-
but what’s the stake for SilveryK? Would this have anything to time after the Scott Commission got into full swing. Doesn’t real-
do with President Dunkelzahn’s (RIP) will? ly answer why he was there, except maybe as her bodyguard.
> Findler-Man > DeeCeeBelle
> What are you saying? That Ghostwalker flew in all the way > Does anyone know where Ghostwalker has set up his lair? I
from dragon-metaplanar-never-never-land to collect whatev- assume it’s in the vicinity of Denver. Are there any big
er ol’ Dunkie left him in the will? unclaimed cave networks nearby in the Rockies?
> Pan > Zaratosa
> Maybe … just, maybe … Ghostwalker is really Dunkelzahn, > Chummer, this is the twenty-first century, and dragons can
returned from Beyond. That would explain why SilveryK was take human form. For all we know, he may have just rented a
there as well—she was part of Dunkelzahn’s network of “watch- spacious three-bedroom flat in the Ute Sector.
ers.” Doesn’t it make sense to ask the one who used to be in > Zephyr
charge to take it back?
> Tom-Tom > Well, his body had to have been in the Denver area, because
when Ghostwalker first appeared he was in astral form, and it
> Hmmm. Now I know most of you probably think all great drag- wasn’t until he appeared in this neck of the woods that he
ons look alike, but I’ve scanned pix of both Dunkelzahn and dragged his meat out of the closet. Where the heck would a
Ghostwalker. While there are some striking similarities, there’s dragon store its body for umpteen years while it was away in
enough differences to make it clear that we’re dealing with the metaplanes?
> Silicon Mage
> Personally, I am amazed that he can live in such a hole. Of
course, I am also amazed that he is even here.
> The Laughing Man
Ha! Fraggin’ Ha!
“MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES”

> I can remember a time when life seemed boring, that noth-
ing would ever really change. I remember also wishing that
things would change, that something interesting and excit-
ing would happen. As it has been said before, and doubtless
will be said again for a long time to come, “Be careful of
what you ask for you, you just might get it.” Things are shak-
ing loose all over the place now, kids. Kinda makes you wish
things were boring again, neh?
Just remember that the next time you’re wanting a
change, and read this transcript we snatched of the meeting
between Ghostwalker and the Council of Denver. Another
good, anonymous chummer sent this little jewel in. Since Council
Hall had been knocked around like a kid’s block tower, the
Council convened in the Compri Room at the Compri Hotel in
the PCC sector, and let’s just say their Matrix security wasn’t up
to snuff. Like other meeting-type transcripts, I’ve cut out all the
motions, seconds, roll-calling and what-have-you. Save your
comments for afterwards.
> Captain Chaos
//Transcript begins//
COUNCIL OF DENVER, FRONT RANGE FREE ZONE
Minutes For January 27, 2062
Emergency Council meeting called by Lucinda Gray Arrow,
interim Council representative for the Sioux sector.
Members Present:
Hector Ramirez, representing the Aztlan sector
Elizabeth Kalheim, representing the CAS sector
Jonathan Popé, representing the Pueblo sector
Lucinda Gray Arrow, representing the Sioux sector
Jeremy Falloon, representing the UCAS sector
William Huhuseca, representing the Ute sector
Also present:
Nicholas Whitebird, representing the great dragon
Ghostwalker
[Chairman HUHUSECA calls the COUNCIL to order.]
Chairman HUHUSECA: Thank you all for coming, as unortho-

dox a situation and location as this is. Without waxing too
philosophical on the vagaries of life and its chaotic nature, I
give Ms. Gray Arrow the floor.
Ms. GRAY ARROW: Thank you, Chairman Huhuseca.

Gentlemen and lady, I have called for this meeting with you
in order that we may come to resolve the situation in which
we currently find ourselves. Never before since the Treaty of

Denver was signed have we seen and been a party to such leave through circumstances as yet unrevealed to me. Now
chaos. It is my firm belief that some resolution must come to that he has returned, he wishes to regain what he has lost.
this conflict with Ghostwalker, and that this resolution needs be Surely at the least the Native American representatives
an entirely peaceful one for the good of the people we each here can understand this—it is simply a matter of reclaiming a
represent. To that end, I open the floor for discussion. heritage that has been stolen away by uninvited colonists.
Mr. POPÉ: If peace is indeed what is being sought, then it Ms. KALHEIM: In a nutshell, if I’m understanding you correct-
would behoove us to start with the basics. Mr. Whitebird, if I ly, you want us to give Ghostwalker control of Denver?
may be so blunt, how may we end this? What is it that
Ghostwalker wants? Mr. WHITEBIRD: Yes, Ms. Kalheim, you are entirely correct.
Mr. RAMIREZ: Judging by his actions, I would say he wishes to Mr. RAMIREZ: Preposterous!
destroy us all.
Chairman HUHUSECA: This is … a somewhat awkward
Mr. FALLOON: Please, Hector, enough of the drama. We know request. Awkward for us, you understand.
how you feel about this already.
Ms. KALHEIM: The Chairman is right. We can’t—and won’t—
Chairman HUHUSECA: Let me remind you, Mr. Falloon, to simply pack up and move.
please use the proper form of address, even if you’re thinking
something else. Mr. FALLOON: Awkward? This is abdicating national sover-
eignty all over again. We can’t just do that without a good rea-
Mr. RAMIREZ: I am sure you find this amusing, but the people son or the people will give my government hell.
of Aztlan do not find humor in the destruction of their heritage!
We wish the dragon to immediately turn himself over so that Ms. GRAY ARROW: As would mine, but I do not think that is
he may be prosecuted for his war crimes. being asked of us. Am I correct, Mr. Whitebird?
Ms. KALHEIM: War crimes? Such as violating the Treaty of Mr. WHITEBIRD: That is so. Ghostwalker is a very fair-minded
Denver and airlifting Aztlan military personnel and materiel individual. He is content to allow everyone to remain as they
over CAS airspace? are, with the Council retaining governance of their respective
sectors.
Mr. POPÉ: Please, fellow Council members, I have asked the
great dragon’s representative a question. Allow him to answer. Mr. RAMIREZ: This meeting is useless. Aztlan cannot and will
not accept anything other than the dragon’s surrender.
Mr. WHITEBIRD: Ladies and gentlemen, Ghostwalker’s wants
at this time are very simple. He has asked me to convey his Mr. POPÉ: Your belligerence ill behooves you, Mr. Ramirez. We
wish that the governance of the Front Range Free Zone be are here to discuss a solution that is amenable to us all, not
turned over to him immediately. simply to the people of the Aztlan sector. In other words, we’re
not here for the benefit of the Aztechnology Corporation.
Chairman HUHUSECA: What?!
Mr. RAMIREZ: Your insinuation is offensive. I represent the
Mr. RAMIREZ: Ridiculous, we— interests of the Aztlaner people.
Ms. KALHEIM: I don’t see— Mr. POPÉ: Then maybe you won’t mind if Aztechnology stops
sending you paychecks.
Mr. FALLOON: But we—
Mr. RAMIREZ: The people of Los Angeles may allow your
Ms. GRAY ARROW: [Speaking a little over the din] Let’s bring country to walk all over their rights, but the people of Aztlan
some order back to this, and ask questions in a calm and rea- will not stand for such abuse.
sonable fashion.
Mr. FALLOON: Gentlemen, I believe we are discussing sowing
Mr. POPÉ: Just what exactly do you mean by that, Mr. peace, not dissent. The events in California should have no
Whitebird? bearing on this discussion.
Mr. WHITEBIRD: I will make myself clearer, as it seems there Ms. KALHEIM: I also have to say that the CAS still can’t accept
remains some confusion. As I have been given to understand, those terms. There are plenty who will believe that we’ve
long ago the entirety of this area was under Ghostwalker’s become nothing more than puppets, that the appearance of
protection and guardianship. It was his home, but he had to letting us keep things as they are is a farce and a sham. I

respectfully submit that the dragon simply rescind his claim a viable threat. I’m afraid that Ghostwalker also falls under that
and let us be. He has already cost us the Treaty of Denver. heading, Mr. Whitebird.
Mr. WHITEBIRD: I’m afraid that he will not, Ms. Kalheim. I feel Mr. FALLOON: Ms. Kalheim brings up a valid point. The Treaty
that some apology must be made for the state of this Treaty, of Denver, as it stands, is on the brink of becoming null and
however, no direct blame may be placed upon Ghostwalker. void after Aztlan’s actions. The minute your people brought
The Aztlan sector and its government decided to bring in the military in, Mr. Ramirez, that started an escalating game of one-
Treaty-breaking troops, not Ghostwalker. upmanship. Everyone has brought in military, now, and don’t
tell me you didn’t notice how carefully we were scanned on
Mr. RAMIREZ: This would not have occurred if we had not the way here. It’s only going to get worse.
been attacked and forced to defend ourselves, Mr. Whitebird.
The Aztlan sector merely wished to protect itself from the Ms. GRAY ARROW: The Front Range Free Zone, never mind
dragon’s tyrannical and terrorist activities. Again, we call for the people we are charged with governing, can’t afford for a
Ghostwalker’s surrender. war to break out because of the nullification of the Treaty.
Mr. FALLOON: What are you going to do, clap Mr. Whitebird Mr. WHITEBIRD: Then please, accept Ghostwalker’s claim. As
here in chains and haul him off? Think about it, man. The drag- soon as he is in office, so to speak, all of this can be settled sat-
on isn’t going to meekly submit just because you’re demand- isfactorily. Perhaps a vote is in order?
ing that he do it, and I doubt you’ll subdue him either.
Chairman HUHUSECA: While what you say makes a certain
Mr. RAMIREZ: I see he’s already subdued the UCAS and the amount of sense, you have heard the opposition to your mas-
Sioux, however. As soon as he began attacking, your sectors ter’s claim. If you could clarify Ghostwalker’s terms, then a vote
immediately showed your bellies. Or is there some other might be considered.
motive for supporting Ghostwalker? Do you regularly deal with
your enemies thusly? Mr. WHITEBIRD: All right, let me be clear. The Council of Denver
will no longer be the supreme governing body of Denver—
Ms. GRAY ARROW: If that were true, Mr. Ramirez, then we instead, Ghostwalker shall be the ultimate authority of the
would have embraced Aztlan already. Ghostwalker is not an autonomous entity known as the Front Range Free Zone, or
enemy, though you choose to see him as such. Denver if you will. However, each sector within it will be run as it
has been run before, and will remain under your respective gov-
Mr. POPÉ: Ghostwalker started the aggressions, Ms. Gray ernments’ laws. The Council of Denver will be granted the author-
Arrow, surely you must admit that. If the dragon is not, as you ity by Ghostwalker to continue to exercise its powers as it has in
say, an enemy, then how is it that he is now a friend? We are the past. In other words, the Council will be authorized to main-
all curious how this seeming alliance has come to be. tain the Front Range Free Zone and make all decisions relating to
policy, economy, security and judicial affairs. Ghostwalker will be
Chairman HUHUSECA: Our coast-loving friend has the right kept apprised of all current happenings, and when he deems it
idea. Let’s hear why the UCAS and Sioux have been calling for necessary he will sit in on the Council or send a delegate to
us to become friendly with Ghostwalker. express his wishes—as far as I know, I will remain his liaison in
this. As the ultimate ruler of this domain, Ghostwalker will have
Ms. KALHEIM: Dragon got your tongue? veto power over all Council decisions, and will pass down judg-
ments for matters on which the Council becomes deadlocked.
Mr. FALLOON: I’m not at liberty to say, and that’s not the issue I have an electronic file that lays out everything in explicit
right now. details, assembled by the best lawyers Ghostwalker could find.
I shall download it to each of you now.
Mr. WHITEBIRD: Agreed. If a resolution is being sought, then
let’s remain on track. Ms. KALHEIM: My, is that all? We aren’t required to hand over
our firstborn children?
Mr. RAMIREZ: A peaceful resolution will occur when
Ghostwalker turns himself over! All else is irrelevant. He threat- Mr. POPÉ: The dragon asks for much, Mr. Whitebird. I hope you
ens our way of life, and we shall not stand idly by and watch understand this.
this dragon make a mockery of our security forces.
Mr. WHITEBIRD: What I do and don’t understand in that regard
Ms. KALHEIM: And the CAS will not stand idly by, Mr. doesn’t matter. These are Ghostwalker’s wishes, and I am his
Ramirez, while the Treaty of Denver is made a mockery of with messenger.
the installation of Aztlan military. It smacks of the prelude to a
ground war. You can’t expect us not to do the same, simply in Mr. RAMIREZ: A lackey sent to negotiate. The dragon’s arro-
order to maintain good defenses in the face of what is arguably gance is astounding. The terms are unacceptable.

Ms. GRAY ARROW: We can’t afford to war like this. No one is an ork and a Coyote shaman, so at times he’s a serious drek-
will win, but if we can make some compromise … disturber. Looks like right now, he’s just serious, habitual cracks
notwithstanding. The Ute position, so far as I know, has lately
Mr. WHITEBIRD: My apologies, Ms. Gray Arrow. Ghostwalker meant siding with the Sioux on most affairs. They occasionally
explicitly set out his terms and did not leave room for com- side with the Pueblo Corporate Council, though the recent
promise. California situation has strained their relationship to the point of
hostility. What does this mean for the Council meeting?
Ms. GRAY ARROW: [Sighs] Very well. If we can agree on these
Huhuseca will likely vote how the Sioux (meaning Ms. Gray
terms, then, we may end up with more to gain than to lose. I
Arrow) votes.
beg you all to carefully consider the choices before you.
Elizabeth “Betty” Kalheim: Consistently underestimated as
Mr. POPÉ: Ms. Gray Arrow, we in essence only have two choic- being merely a talking head for Ares and her CAS superiors,
es. We either agree to submit to the great dragon’s rule with Betty always manages to come out on top. She’s as canny as
us acting as stewards, or we reject it entirely and plunge our- they come, and even her occasional mistakes somehow seem
selves into war. to factor in to some grand scheme in the works later down the
line. A few years ago, Betty went into rehabilitation for a previ-
Mr. RAMIREZ: The events in Los Angeles prove that Pueblo ously undiscovered chip habit, which you know had the boys
has no aversion to war. looking to impeach. Predictably, it never happened. For a short
while, it looked like the CAS and Aztlan may have forged an
Chairman HUHUSECA: Agreed. And neither, it seems, does alliance over this Ghostwalker situation, but by bringing in
Aztlan. troops I believe the Azzies just slit their own throat.
Jonathan Popé: I remember when he used to be a combat
Ms. KALHEIM: Isn’t Aztlan busy with a war elsewhere, already? decker in the Pueblo subnet; we even mixed it up at least once.
He’s a sharp, quiet, scholarly-type chummer, so you know when
Mr. FALLOON: That was unworthy, my dear. And for the
he speaks up in Council for the PPC, the others tend to listen.
record, I believe you’re talking about the Yucatán.
Until now, he’d been fighting the good fight alongside Aztlan,
but that’s not likely to survive the next few hours. The PCC does-
Ms. KALHEIM: Thank you. This illustrates my point. Aztlan has
been very keen on warring; we have all seen evidence of this. n’t want a war anymore than half the other sectors, and they’re
We can’t allow them to drag the rest of us into a war of their already dealing with a bad rep for their recent annexation of
making, although if it becomes necessary, the CAS will willing- Los Angeles. With all the saber-rattling going on between Aztlan
ly enter the front lines. and the CAS, Popé’s position is on the precarious side.
Hector Ramirez: As you smart cookies have guessed,
Mr. RAMIREZ: Armed by Ares, no doubt. Ramirez is the Aztlan rep. And just like other Aztlan reps the
Council’s had in the past, he’s more about irritating the bugs
Ms. KALHEIM: As Aztechnology will arm Aztlan. Shall we out of you than really doing anything terribly constructive. He
compare bank statements next? sure is pushing it for all he’s worth this time. Maybe
Aztechnology’s decided to slip his leash a little—it’s no secret
Ms. GRAY ARROW: Enough of the squabbling. I move we take that the destruction of their teocalli severely slotted them off.
a recess and reconvene in an hour’s time. Now they’ll have to make do with another place to continue
their heart-ripping ceremonies.
Chairman HUHUSECA: Seconded. Everyone please return no
Lucinda Gray Arrow: Lucinda is the representative for the
later than a quarter after the hour. I strongly recommend that
Sioux sector, having replaced Mary Cat Dancing a little while
everyone remain here at the Compri.
back. Ms. Gray Arrow is as bright as old Mary, and she has the
[The COUNCIL and Mr. WHITEBIRD take a recess.] benefit of not having as many enemies. She’s also a Cat
//Transcript break// shaman, and there are lots of strange rumors passing around
about her cat familiar. No one’s quite sure when or why she
> Hoo-wee, what a ride. Anyone get sick on that little roller- decided that Ghostwalker was the second coming of Jetblack,
coaster? but the Sioux sector has been behind making nice with the
Don’t let all the official language fool you: the Council is a dragon ever since, along with the UCAS.
veritable hotbed of intrigue, petty bickering and excitement. Jeremy Falloon: The media likes to dice him up as “Falloon
Since most of you are not exactly intimately familiar with who’s the Buffoon,” but if you buy that you’ll also buy that the
who and how they’re screwing each other, I’ve taken the lib- Universal Brotherhood was about sweetness and light. He’s a
erty of whipping together this cheat sheet. true Machiavellian, as slick as a dragon’s tongue. Most of his
William Huhuseca: Like the transcript says, he’s the Ute rep enemies never even see him coming. He’s got a shadowy past,
to the Council of Denver. What it doesn’t say is that Huhuseca and he can certainly handle himself in the street, as the six

cybered gangers a few years back learned after he left them GHOSTWALKER: I am surprised to find any spirit left in your
bleeding and moaning for Mommy in the gutter. Falloon is cur- people after so many years under Aztechnology’s yoke. I
rently operating under the direct supervision of Nadja Daviar. would think they would have nowhere to go but up.
As for Ghostwalker and his representative Nicholas Whitebird
… you’ve read the other documents, so you should be able to Chairman HUHUSECA: Gentlemen, please! Mr. Falloon?
figure them out as well as anyone else. Keep your ears open.
Mr. FALLOON: Yea. The UCAS finds the dragon’s claim to be
> FastJack valid, and his terms acceptable. We have also been assured
that we will each retain control over our sectors, and so we find
> C’mon Jack, I had to reset the protections on this transcript no conflict of interest.
twice after you posted. You’re setting a bad example for the
kiddies. GHOSTWALKER: “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow
> Captain Chaos world like a Colossus; and we petty men walk under his huge
“I am everywhere!” legs, and peep about to find ourselves dishonorable graves.”
//Transcript resumes//
Chairman HUHUSECA: That’s from Cassius’ speech in William
[The COUNCIL reconvenes. The great dragon GHOSTWALKER
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. I didn’t know you enjoyed The
joins the meeting. All sit.]
Bard’s work.
Chairman HUHUSECA: Thanks, everyone, for returning
GHOSTWALKER: I am finding much among your classics to
promptly. Ghostwalker, thank you for joining us.
enjoy. Particularly the discourses of Niccolo Machiavelli.
GHOSTWALKER: Naturally, I would hardly do otherwise. I trust
Chairman HUHUSECA: I see. Ms. Gray Arrow?
Nicholas, but I wanted to see these proceedings for myself. The
outcome interests me.
Ms. GRAY ARROW: Yea. Let peace reign, so old wounds may
heal and we gather no new ones.
Mr. POPÉ: An equally interesting answer, honored
Ghostwalker. We are all interested in the outcome.
Chairman HUHUSECA: Mr. Popé?
Mr. FALLOON: Then I say we get on with it and cut the jibber-
Mr. POPÉ: Yea. Frankly, I see no other choice in order to stop
jabber.
what will otherwise be massive bloodshed, and enough of that
has occurred already. Our nation desires stability in this area
GHOSTWALKER: [aside to Mr. WHITEBIRD] Jibber-jabber?
while we manage instability elsewhere in the world.
Mr. WHITEBIRD: [aside to GHOSTWALKER] He means inconse-
Chairman HUHUSECA: Well, well. If that isn’t a surprising vote.
quential talk, great one.
Mr. RAMIREZ: You are all making a fatal mistake. Are you
GHOSTWALKER: Yes, by all means, cut the jibber-jabber. Begin
blind?
your voting.
Mr. WHITEBIRD: I advise that you remain seated, Mr. Ramirez,
Chairman HUHUSECA: Ladies and gentlemen, now that we are
and remain quiet.
fully aware of the issues, we must come to a vote on whether
we follow the path of peace, or the path of war. As this is an
Mr. RAMIREZ: Advice? On whose behalf—the dragon’s?
emergency meeting, this will be a majority vote, and not an “all
or none” proposition. All other debates and considerations will
GHOSTWALKER: He means on your behalf. Sit. Your jibber-jab-
be handled after the vote, since they center upon the outcome.
ber is tiresome.
As I call your name, please give a “yea” or “nay” answer. Should
we honor Ghostwalker’s claim and thereby end this war?
Chairman HUHUSECA: If we may continue the voting? Ms.
Kalheim?
GHOSTWALKER: I assure you all, it is in your best interests to
capitulate.
Ms. KALHEIM: As you know, this isn’t an easy matter. The CAS
does not feel comfortable with having a dragon overlord for
Chairman HUHUSECA: Thank you, honored Ghostwalker. Mr.
Denver. But neither are we eager to enter into a free-for-all war,
Ramirez?
which is the alternative with a violated treaty on our hands.
Our vote is “yea.”
Mr. RAMIREZ: Nay. We will not do the bidding of a dishonor-
able dragon. The spirit of the Aztlan people will not be crushed
[Several seconds of stunned silence follow.]
by the oppression of a petty tyrant.

Mr. RAMIREZ: What?!
Chairman HUHUSECA: As we have a majority vote with or

without my vote, which incidentally is also “yea,” the motion
passes. We will honor Ghostwalker’s claim, and therefore
Denver, the Front Range Free Zone, is now under his protection
and overall governance.
Mr. RAMIREZ: You ignorant fools! This is a ridiculous farce. The

Treaty has now been nullified. You are asking to have Denver
plunged into warfare and chaos. I assure you that you seal your
own dooms.
GHOSTWALKER: Sit, little man. Your threats have been abated.

I am well aware of your contingency preparations to shut down
Denver’s Matrix grids. No such thing will be occurring. Your
grids have been given over to Pueblo.
Mr. RAMIREZ: You’re bluffing.
Mr. WHITEBIRD: No sir, he is not. Arrangements have already

been made for the Pueblo Corporate Council to assume grid
control, as Mr. Popé can attest to. We expect the Corporate
Court to approve the transfer in a matter of minutes, given the
evidence Ghostwalker has provided them and in light of the
decision this Council just reached.
Mr. FALLOON: Face it, Hector, Aztlan’s been eunuched.
Mr. RAMIREZ: You self-satisfied … we won’t allow this to

happen.
GHOSTWALKER: You’ve no choice in the matter. Aztlan is no

longer welcome in Denver. Pack up and get out.
Mr. RAMIREZ: What? We are not leaving! We won’t be ousted

by this treacherous wyrm!
Ms. KALHEIM: Then perhaps your people will be ousted by

CAS troops.
Mr. RAMIREZ: Is that a threat? As I’m sure you are aware, we

also have military nearby.
GHOSTWALKER: No, it is the current reality. Confederated

American States troops are, as we speak, invading the Aztlan
sector and starting the relocation process.
[Several unidentified security personnel enter the meeting

room.]
Mr. WHITEBIRD: If I might add, sir, Mr. Ramirez’s helicopter has

now landed. Our personnel are ready to escort him to the heli-
pad and back to Aztlan.
Ms. KALHEIM: Hurry, Hector, you don’t want to miss your

flight. Ghostwalker, thank you. We will now implement the sec-

ond part of our deal, meaning that the CAS will assume control Ms. GRAY ARROW: I second that motion.
over the former Aztlan sector lands.
Chairman HUHUSECA: The motion is passed and noted.
GHOSTWALKER: This is acceptable. Our deal is done.
Ms. KALHEIM: A little strange from you, Ms. Gray Arrow, since
Mr. RAMIREZ: Idiots, all of you. No matter. This is out of my you’ve been suing for peace.
hands now, so it seems. May you get what you deserve, toad-
ying to the dragon. Good riddance. Ms. GRAY ARROW: Peace can only be maintained through vig-
ilance, unfortunately. Surely you can agree with that.
[Mr. RAMIREZ and the security personnel leave the meeting.]
GHOSTWALKER: A great many good men counted as good
Chairman HUHUSECA: Wow. Ah … [clears throat] This brings leaders have said as much.
us brutally to the next point of business. Before we move on to
any other tasks, we must consider these ramifications upon the //Transcript ends//
Treaty of Denver. Ghostwalker?
> Aztlan kicked out of Denver! Holy fragging hotcakes, can that
GHOSTWALKER: I leave this largely to the Council, with sug- be true?
gestions. One—rewrite it, without Aztlan as one of the signa- > The Kid
tories. Two—add in a point, or clause, concerning my status.
Be absolutely sure to state that what I rule is law. I rule Denver. > What, didn’t you hear Hector Ramirez swallowing his tongue?
You govern its sectors. Yeah, it’s true all right.
> Lara
Ms. KALHEIM: [Murmurs] Very succinct.
> And the CAS snatches it up. Ain’t we lucky?
Mr. FALLOON: And what about the military situation? If every-
one’s going to keep their military forces here, then some of us
> CASper
need to play catch-up, if you get my meaning. Otherwise,
scrub ’em. Get them out of here, and we start back at square > This is my home you’re talking about. Fragging vampire.
one. Which is it? > Eagle Warrior
GHOSTWALKER: Neither. As the Treaty stipulates, no nation [1.3 Mp deleted by SysOp]

shall station military forces under their command in the Front
Range Free Zone. However, defense is an important issue that > I know it’s a touchy subject, but try to keep it civil.
we cannot afford to overlook, and so I offer the following solu- > Captain Chaos
tion. A joint “peacekeeping” force shall be established for the “I am everywhere!”
defense of Denver, composed of equal elements of units from
each of your nations. This Zone Defense Force shall be inde- > I can’t imagine Aztlan just rolled over and let the CAS walk in.
pendently operated by a command staff composed of person- How bad is the fighting?
nel “loaned” by your respective countries. Your nations may > People Watcher
nominate staff, but I will make the final selection. The Zone
Defense Force will, of course, answer to me.
> Not as bad as you might expect. The CAS invasion seems to
be backed by spirit support, which has managed to keep most
Mr. FALLOON: Sounds reasonable, though such projects
of Aztlan’s air assets grounded. There was some pretty bloody
always work better in theory than in practice. It will certainly
fighting at the border posts as CAS troops stormed in, but they
discourage Aztlan from seeking to reclaim its sector.
seized tactical control rapidly. The Aztechnology building held
Mr. POPÉ: It would also bring military matters into the open, so out the longest, and that area was a warzone for several hours.
we no longer have to deal with behind-the-scenes militariza- I understand that CAS troops are automatically deporting
tion as we have for years. anyone who’s employed by or a citizen of Aztechnology. The
other residents are being interned, until their cases can be
Mr. FALLOON: True. Establishing this force and re-establishing reviewed individually. Many of them are actually being given a
the Treaty is definitely a multi-session job, and I’m sure each of choice whether they want to stay or go—quite a few are opt-
us is going to need to spend some time de-escalating the sit- ing to stay under CAS supervision.
uation now that fighting has broken out in the Az—I mean, > Pyramid Watcher
CAS sector. I move to make these the first topics of new busi-
ness at our next meeting.
> If I had a choice, I’d certainly choose to stay the frag away
from Aztlan. Of course, I’ve seen sides to Aztechnology that no

metahuman should ever see … could easily see SilveryK or the Nexus holding on to data like
> Midnight Angel that. The only question is, what did they get from the dragon
in return?
> Even with the screening process, the CAS is going to have to > Slamm-0!
be careful. Some Aztechnology loyalists are going to slip
through their nets. They’ll be sure to have a fifth column active > Seems to me that all of these slags have forgotten the most
in no time, aiming to put the sector back in Aztlan’s hands. important rule of negotiations: never deal with a dragon.
> Warmonger Ghostwalker’s going to wring each and every one of them dry
as a bone. Caveat emptor.
> I’ve heard that Henequen Enterprises is lobbying to import > Dragonslayer
some of those Aztlan residents into the Sioux. In case you did-
n’t know, HE is run by Henequen, a small feathered serpent > Caveat emptor?
who’s rumored to be an ex-Aztechnology employee. If I’m > GnuB
scanning it right, Henequen’s pulling his old agents out, before
they get too far out of his reach. I wonder what Henequen > It means “Buyer beware.”
thinks of Ghostwalker? > Etty Molly Gee
> Monitor
> It will be interesting to see how Ghostwalker’s takeover influ-
> Hmm, I predict that some of the syndicates will be taking ences the Denver Council. The Council has always been a paper
advantage of the power vacuum following Aztechnology’s tiger, completely ineffectual when it came to running the place—
“departure.” The Triads have a strong presence in the CAS sec- which is why Denver was so great for us shadowy types. But now
tor, and they now have a prime opportunity for growth on their that the tiger has teeth, things may change considerably.
hands. Unless someone else moves in first … > Little Red
> China Doll
> Hey, what’s the scoop on this Whitebird guy? Where did he
> I imagine the Azzies are already laying the groundwork to come from? Did the dragon drag him back from the meta-
take back their turf—they’ve never been ones to back down planes or something?
from a fight. Of course, they’ll probably have to shift some > Joey
troops away from their Yucatán conflict, which could be a
problem for them. > There is no Nicholas Whitebird in the SIN Registry, real or fake.
> Sidewinder The rumormill places him as an ork Eagle shaman who grew up
in the Ute sector.
> Well, this whole drama certainly proves that Ghostwalker has > FastJack
been a busy dragon in the past few weeks. When he wasn’t
burning select parts of Denver down, he must have been work- > Scan this. The way I hear it, Ghostwalker was on one of his
ing deals like mad. He bought CAS support with Azzie land and guerrilla attack missions in the Ute sector, trashing a whole city
sucked in Pueblo by handing them the Denver RTG (I have to block for some obscure reason. All of a sudden, out of
say that one makes me happy—the thought of Aztlan running nowhere, this weirdo blind guy they call the Guide walks up,
the grids gave me crawlies). with his hand on the shoulder of some gutter shaman ork. The
> Zephyr pair waltzes right up and stands there in the middle of the
street, like they see dragons walking on condos every day.
> Taking that secret meeting at the Brown Palace as a cue, Ghostwalker spots them, and immediately drops what he’s
Ghostwalker also seems to have Nadja Daviar—and thus the doing (literally). He steps down into the street, and swings his
UCAS—on his side. But what’s he got on the Sioux? Why is head in low, just five paces away from the Guide. They stare at
Lucinda Gray Arrow supporting him? each other eye to eye for a few seconds, then the Guide starts
> Puma speaking, telling Ghostwalker that he’s brought “the one he
had sought.” He then pushes the ork forward—an ork who is
> Curiosity killed the cat, you know. later identified as Nicholas Whitebird. The white wyrm gives the
> The Laughing Man ork a real thorough once-over, like he’s got x-ray vision and
Ha! Fraggin’ Ha! wanted to be sure that Nicholas was wearing the right color of
underwear, and then nods. The weirdest part? For at least a full
> Hey, I think I see where SilveryK might fit in now. I seriously minute, Ghostwalker and the Guide just stood there real quiet,
doubt that Ghostwalker is Matrix savvy enough to have dug staring at each other, without saying a word. Then finally the
up that dirt on Aztechnology’s grid shutdown plan—but I mysterious Ute turns around and leaves without a “goodbye”

or “slot off” or anything. Nicholas has barely left the dragon’s version of the Treaty of Denver and the governments from which
side ever since. their people and representatives came. Few there are who may
> Hectic say that this has not been beneficial to those now willingly under
my governance.
> Yeah, but Nicholas ain’t the ugly halfer who was escorting The largest hue and cry has been raised concerning the
Ghostwalker to that Brown Palace meeting. Has anyone ID’d removal of Aztlan interests from Denver. Reasons for this are
that chump yet?
many and varied, and will not be explained. My answer is
merely thus: “To those who understand, no explanation is
> George needed; to those who do not, no explanation will suffice.” The
STATE OF THE FRONT RANGE FREE ZONE only consolation I offer is the fact that I have made yet more
enemies to add to the list I once carried. This is as it should be,
> We received this the same day as the meeting between
and no more.
Ghostwalker and the Council of Denver, with pretty specific
Aztlan’s banishment left a hole to be filled, and for that I
instructions to post it up. It came direct through the Nexus, and
chose the Confederated American States. I have heard tell short-
since the sender at least said “pretty please,” we figured it was
ly afterward of castigation leveled at the CAS for “making deals
in our best interests to do it. Besides, it’s been a while since with dragons” as if this were a shameful idea. This impugns drag-
we’ve had a direct address from a dragon that wasn’t on honor, and I will not have it said in my presence. To do so will
Dunkelzahn, much less one that’s shaken up the status quo as be to risk my wrath; consider yourselves adequately warned.
much as Ghostwalker has. That’s right: we’ve got our first “State Dragonkind has done much to earn simple respect, and I insist
of the Union” type address from our new neighbor in the that it be paid. But even as potent as we are, I concede that fre-
Rockies. quently there is need for representatives from among you.
On an interesting sidenote, this missive comes to us on the I formally declare that Nicholas Whitebird shall be my liaison
same date that the late great dragon Dunkelzahn held his first not only to the Council of Denver, but to the world at large until
press conference, 50 years ago. such time as I choose another or additional employee, or he
> Captain Chaos leaves my employ. Deal with him as you would with me; he car-
Transmitted: 27 January 2062 at 21:03:42 (PST) ries my voice and my authority. He will assist the sectors with
their day-to-day operations, making sure that all runs smoothly
Greetings to all who read this. I am that whom you call for Denver’s inhabitants. He will also oversee the building of a
Ghostwalker. Many news agencies have told you something of new Council Hall in the UCAS sector. With such a large burden of
me and the recent events in Denver, the benefits of which are responsibility upon his shoulders, I also appoint an office, housed
somewhat dubious. I have not participated in any “interviews” for in the Sioux sector, which will help relieve the burden and carry
a few simple reasons, chief among them the reliance upon others out his assigned tasks.
to relate my words accurately, ensuring that Truth prevails. After Inevitably, there will be those of you who will wish for a per-
speaking with those whom I trust, and hearing that irresponsible sonal audience with me. It is only fitting and natural to engender
reporting and “creative editing” are commonplace, the thought such a wish, and to that end I have set up the means with which
of giving interviews has not sat well. And yet I must address you you may approach me with your petitions. I am, however, an
all, so I have decided to rely upon this medium where informa- understandably busy dragon, and I can’t be bothered with mat-
tion can be exchanged freely and retain its basic integrity during ters of little to no importance. Therefore, petitioners will be chal-
transference. lenged and must present a suitable gift before I grant a portion of
I have been asked about myself and my plans for Denver, or my attention.
the Front Range Free Zone. As this necessitates telling what’s To take advantage of the wonders created in this age, the
happened so far for clarification, then this is what I will address method by which this will occur shall be the use of the Matrix. I
first. You ephemerals have always been overly worried about such have learned much about this ingenious and useful tool, allowing
things, but since this is largely your age, in this matter at least I me to set the petitioning procedure into place. A node has been
will gladly bow and soothe your worries. set up within the Denver Regional Telecommunications Grid. All
Through thankfully unrepeatable events long ago, I needed of you with matters to present before me must first leave your
to leave my home, that which is now Denver. Now that I am petition with the node’s message service, along with the means
returned, I have reclaimed my rightful place as guardian and pro- to contact you. It is customary among my kind to submit a gift
tector of this region. There are those who question my methods; when petitioning—such gifts may be tendered in information,
these I challenge to conclusively prove my wrongdoing. nuyen or other appropriate barter. Petitions that fail these require-
Whatever the beliefs concerning my actions, I can only say that ments will be ignored. If I choose to grant you an audience, my
necessity forced my hand. This has wrought some measure of liaison will arrange a time and place to my satisfaction.
healing and stability, however, where previously there could only I am lenient and generous, but I do not brook foolishness; I
be distrust with the threat of violence. I have even allowed the foresee, however, a congenial relationship between myself and
Council of Denver to retain the powers given to it by the former Denver. A bright future awaits this region that I call home, and I
intend upon being the instrument that ushers it in.

LIKE MANA FROM HEAVEN
here’s no doubt about it. This past year we have seen more “naturally occurring” magical
T changes, upheavals and outright weirdness since the time of the Awakening and the
Ghost Dance War. The number of mana storms around the world has doubled, and they
have even appeared in areas that have never experienced such phenomenon before.
According to magical experts, the world’s mana lines have increased in activity and poten-
cy, new ones have been discovered and old ones have shifted their flow—in both the geo-
graphical and metaphysical aspects. The magical community has also been abuzz with talk
of new developments from “mana rifts” to “mana shallows” and everything in between.
It would be easy to devote hundreds of megapulses to these developments, but such
files are best saved for other compilations. The crucial issue here is whether these mana fluc-
tuations are caused by the appearance of the comet itself, or whether they simply coincide
in terms of timing. Most thaumaturgical experts agree—the comet is merely a portent of
changing times, a herald of a new age. It is not in itself the catalyst for these changes. Of
course, your local street shaman may beg to differ.
Whatever your opinion, the times have changed and these new developments are here
to stay. Many of these may have a direct impact on your shadowrunning career—after all, it’s
important to keep abreast of current events.
First on our plate of comet-related magical curiosities is a report not from a shaman or a
mage, but from a mundane shadowrunner named Drake. Our friend Drake happened to
attend a Wuxing shareholder meeting and private social event where he recorded some fas-
cinating information detailing how Wuxing is capitalizing upon these world-altering events.
> Captain Chaos
Transmitted: 12 December 2061 at 03:00:41 (PST)
WUXING: HIT THE GROUND RUNNING

by Drake
As a shadowrunner, I’ve made it a habit to obtain megacorporate stock whenever I’ve
had the opportunity. By holding stock in a public corp, I’m entitled to receive shareholder
reports and attend shareholder meetings where I can learn all about the corp’s financial

doings and latest projects. Granted, a lot of this drek is pretty > No doubt the effects of Sharon Chaing-Wu’s Coin of Luck,
boring, but if you read between the lines and watch who’s rub- which was bequeathed to her in Dunkelzahn’s will. According
bing elbows with whom, you can scan a lot about the corp’s to the myth, the coin grants fertility. Looks like it works as adver-
internal power structure and even get a feeling for what the tised.
corp may be doing behind the scenes. Now, some of the
megas are privately owned—Aztechnology, Novatech and
> Natasha
Saeder-Krupp for example. But the rest of the megas have
stock available at any bank or brokerage house, or through > You can’t say that for sure. No one has ever proved the Coins
your friendly neighborhood Mr. Johnson. of Luck do anything at all. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were
just mundane trinkets.
> You’d be amazed at who shows up at these types of things— > Night Owl
corporate powerbrokers, spies from the competition and the
It is important to examine where our journey as a corpo-
smattering of runners and databrokers looking to score. It’s
ration began to appreciate where we are today. Please indulge
almost like a shadowrunner convention, except surrounded by me while I relate a somewhat personal story, you will see how
corporate security. it applies.
> DefCon Our corporate pilgrimage began under very ominous cir-
cumstances in the year 1986, during the Qingming holiday. My
Just recently, I took advantage of the chunk of Wuxing esteemed father Wu Kuan-Lei was contacted by one of our
shares I have in my portfolio and hopped a suborbital down to ancestors while worshipping at our ancestral shrine. Though
Hong Kong. I had an inkling that Wuxing was expanding down thaumaturgical scientists would argue that such contact would
some new avenues, so I also hired a decker to make arrange- have been impossible before the Awakening, the spirits of my
ments for me to attend the invite-only party for high-level ancestors assure me that it did indeed occur.
stockholders that followed. I expected to score some useful The ancestor who contacted my father was none other than
data, but frag if I wasn’t in for some surprises. Wu Xu, one of the first of our family name, and he had a terrible
The material I found most intriguing came directly from revelation to deliver. Wu Xu said that the Wu ancestral shrine,
the mouth of Wuxing CEO Wu Lung Wei. What follows is the where my family had worshiped for thousands of years, was
transcript of the introductory speech he gave at the sharehold- experiencing severe geopathic disruption. The feng shui of our
er’s meeting. Though his tone was that of a reserved Chinese shrine had been disturbed, and the flow of chi had become stag-
businessman giving a report about routine events, the impact nant and stressed. Though it had been built thousands of years
of his words was substantial. earlier by Wu Xu’s grandsons at a large dragon line nexus, envi-
//Begin Audio Transcript// ronmental changes had diverted its energies elsewhere.
Esteemed fellow shareholders of Wuxing,
Last year, the world’s financial analysts said we could not > For you Westerners, Qingming is a holiday observed in Hong
possibly continue our explosive rate of growth, our ascension Kong, Singapore and Taiwan where families gather at ancestral
into the upper ranks of the world’s most powerful corporations. gravesides. Qingming normally falls on April 4th or 5th. It is the
I am pleased to tell you we have proved them wrong beyond occasion when people “sweep the grave,” which comprises
their wildest imaginations. worshipping the ancestors, making offerings and literally
Before we delve into those matters, I would first like to sweeping away the year’s accumulated weeds and rubbish.
welcome back esteemed Board Member Sharon Chaing-Wu The Chinese have celebrated Qingming since before the Zhou
from maternity leave. She has blessed me with five heirs to the Dynasty (eleventh century BC to 221 BC). It makes sense that
Wu family dynasty, all strong, healthy girls. Fo, Shui, Moak, Tou the ancestors might choose to use the occasion to drop a hint
and Gum are developing quite distinctive personalities, so or two to the descendents.
much so that I have no difficulty differentiating one from > Phillipau
another.
> So what if there’s bad feng shui at the gravesite? What’s feng
> For those of you whose translation algorithms didn’t translate shui?
Wu’s kids’ proper names, in English they are fire, water, earth,
> Hades
wood and metal/gold (depending on the context of the
word). Those would be the five elements of the wujen tradition.
> Feng shui is a geomantic arcane art which teaches that the
> Chang landscape of an area and the layout of a building affects the
flow of chi, or life force, through it. Though chi and mana aren’t
> Identical quintuplets? I don’t know much about birthin’ considered to be the same thing, a place where chi flows well
babies, but isn’t that pretty rare?
will generally be conducive for the flow of mana as well. The
> iShmoo use of proper feng shui is important to wujen, who claim that
feng shui can affect the flow of mana in an area.
> Phillipau
> Actually, that separation is a contemporary concept. Old- > It’s true, the whole building is built like one huge mana focus.
school wujen consider chi synonymous with mana. It gives It’s been pointed out to me that the pattern is similar to those
them bragging rights since easterners have been harnessing you sometimes see in other ancient Chinese ancestor shrines.
their chi for thousands of years. The entire skyscraper is Wu’s rebuilt ancestor shrine!
> Scoop > Bork3
> Some Chinese believe that if feng shui is bad over an ances- > That particular junction is so large, it seems probable that it
tral shrine it will be reflected in the fortunes of the family. Bad was in use before Wu arrived. This would mean that in order to
feng shui is considered to be synonymous with hard times for rebury the Wu family at the Aberdeen mana junction, Papa Wu
the family. Feng shui is so important to some Chinese families had to move a pre-existing shrine of a different family.
that they sometimes re-bury the ancestors to correct the prob- > Talon
lem. There are traditional rituals for doing this properly.
> Bo > It’s a bad idea to disturb ancestors, even if they’re not your
own. They might have some beef with the Wu family as a result.
My father was not entirely surprised by the news Wu Xu had
> Posthumous Lee
delivered. He had long suspected our ancestral shrine was not
properly attuned, but lacked the talent to rectify the situation In order to envision the future, it is necessary to under-
himself. He was surprised however that the feng shui was so stand the past. That is enough history for today. Thank you for
misaligned that our ancestor felt compelled to notify him in per- indulging an old man. Now, on to current events.
son. The situation was dire and required immediate attention. I have been asked to comment on how the changes in the
Wu Xu told my father of a place in Aberdeen, a section of Hong Kong-area manasphere have affected daily operations
Hong Kong with which I’m sure we are all familiar. It was here here at the Wuxing Skytower. Those of us who work here are
where our ancestors were to be relocated. It was a location of well aware of the current local situation in Hong Kong, howev-
exceptional feng shui, rivaling the original energies that had er I will elaborate for the benefit of our shareholders in atten-
once flowed through our ancestral shrine. Taking the spirit’s dance via the Matrix. As of a few months ago, the realm of
advice, my father purchased the land. He then reburied our astral space has become visible to mundanes in the area sur-
ancestors on the land. It is the very same land our present day rounding our Skytower, extending approximately one kilome-
corporate headquarters, the Wuxing Skytower, was built upon ter in all directions.
many years later, in 2017. The move has been a good one for This is not the first time this has occurred in Hong Kong.
the Wuxing Corporation, as well as for my family. Prosperity Our city is in fact known for its wild magic and unpredictable
has followed our every move. surges of chi. There have been dozens of incidents in the last
few years where the barrier between the physical and astral
> There’s a section of Hong Kong named Aberdeen? planes has become like glass, allowing the mundane residents
> Esprito of our city to view the glorious reflections of life and energy
that exists on just the other side. These windows into the other
> It’s left over from the old British Protectorate days. There are world have rarely lasted for long—a few days at most—until
quite a few other parts of town that also bear English names. now. The exact cause of this arcane phenomenon is being
> Phillipau investigated, but it should assure each of you to know that we
have consulted a number of expert geomancers, and each of
them agrees that the effect is harmless. In fact, most suspect
> Hong Kong businesses take the feng shui of their buildings
that this effect is caused by the superior feng shui of our
very seriously. Shortly after the Wuxing Skytower was built, a rival
Skytower. The pooling of so much chi within our halls clearly
corp built a new structure nearby that started a “feng shui
proves that we are on a path of good fortune.
war.” The new building’s corners were directing “poison arrows”
of negative energy towards the Skytower. To ward it off, they
> Our team mage discovered the hard way about visible astral
replaced all of the windows in the Skytower with mirrored glass,
space while trying to survey a Hong Kong extraction target. My
symbolically reflecting the negative energy back at their rival.
team is based out of Beijing, and we had no idea that the astral
Wuxing took it a step further and bought the land next to their
space in the area where our target lived had become visible.
rival’s tower, then built a major public fountain there that sym-
So our shaman took an astral trip over and started casing out
bolically “flooded” their enemy.
his apartment, leisurely wandering around like she always did.
> Foster Apparently at some point she passed between him and his trid,
and he spotted her and freaked out. Needless to say, the
> Wu’s not kidding about the Wuxing site having good feng shui— extraction became a lot more difficult when he suddenly
it’s smack on the crossroads of two major dragon lines. According
moved back into corporate HQ for protection.
to the mages I’ve talked to, it’s a very potent site of power.
> Manchu
> Snow tiger
//End Audio Transcript//
> The visible astral effect can be a boon as well, if you’re wor-
ried about astral surveillance on yourself. Night runs are real
The rest of Wu’s speech is pretty dull, so I cut it. The gist
interesting too—sustained spells glow in the dark, and so do
of it was several more minutes of self-congratulation and pro-
active foci. Being able to see a person’s aura also has its
paganda designed to drive up the price of Wuxing shares,
advantages. If you look real close you can notice a change in spiced up with a few jabs at Wuxing’s Japanese competitors
the color of a person’s skin when they get mad, sad or emo- and the unfortunate catastrophes that have befallen them in
tional in general. I pissed off this bleeder in a bar so bad that he recent years. The rest of the meeting was just as boring, as var-
started to give off a faint red glow. I was even able to make out ious officials gave pep talks or droned on about Wuxing’s
some of his cyberware from the dark spots in the aura. amazing financial success.
> HK Kid After the meeting, I slipped back to the hotel for some
nicer clothes, then I made my way to the special VIP after-
> When this effect kicks in, it generally means a lot of the mag- party. After passing the impressive dragon sculptures that
ical creepies clear out of the area. Ghouls, insect spirit flesh- guard the Skytower’s wide entrance (to channel in chi, I was
forms and other dual monsters suddenly find that their true told), I was escorted up to the building’s spacious penthouse
nature is visible to mundanes. Big threats like toxic spirits and the suite. It’s definitely in the running for eighth wonder of the
like light up the area like bonfires. It makes them hard to hide. world. Every inch of the place was covered in ornate gold and
jade inlay. The floor was tiled in jade as well as most of the ceil-
> Blacklight
ing. Whoever built it took advantage of the natural difference
in hues of the mineral to design intricate historical scenes made
> Masking still works, so those who possess the ability can still only of the color changes in the jade.
conceal their true aura.
In the center of the room was a large, exquisite statue of
> Huck three carp jumping in the water. I was told that this magnificent
I understand that some of you have voiced concerns that piece was none other than the Jade Dragon of Wind and Fire, a
due to the visibility of astral space to mundanes, our magical sculpture bequeathed to Wu by the great dragon Dunkelzahn.
security has been laid bare. I wish to put these rumors to rest. Wide, clear pathways led to the statue from the room’s eight
Though our security spirits are indeed visible to any who would large entranceways, each surrounded by reliefs that made
pass by, even the most hardened corporate spies would balk at them appear as the mouth of a jade dragon. The pathways
the sight of them. My Security Director informs me that the between these dragon-mouth archways and the Jade Dragon
sheer number of spirits we have on patrol—spirits of unusual were illuminated by some sort of ghostly incandescent fire—
potency no less—serves as a firm deterrent to would-be some sort of astral mana flow made visible to us mundanes. It
intruders. Our other magical security assets continue to func- was impressive, to say the least.
tion better than ever, and in fact have recently been upgraded.
Truth be told, the visibility of astral space has proven quite ben- > If I’m reading this correctly, Wuxing is channeling the mana
eficial to our security, as now even mundane staff can guard line junctions directly into the Jade Dragon of Wind and Fire.
against astral incursion—we no longer require Awakened staff That’s a lot of mana being pumped into that thing. Does any-
to detect astral intruders. So please rest assured that Wuxing’s one know what that statue does?
headquarters remains as secure as ever, if not more so. > Neutron
> He’s not kidding about the amount of spirits they have on > It could be creating the effect that makes astral space
guard there. I happened to cruise by last week and the place around the tower visible.
looked like a damn spirit playground. There were at least a > King
dozen swirling around the Wuxing Skytower on patrol. There
must have been half a dozen others lounging in the vicinity, > Well, let’s see: feng shui means “water earth.” It’s the Jade
almost like they were socializing. I spotted all different kinds— Dragon of Wind and Fire. Seems complimentary—all four ele-
elementals, spirits of the elements, nature spirits and a few I ments are covered.
couldn’t identify right away. The sight has actually drawn > Drapes
crowds, and occasionally the spirits will even chat with mun-
danes. Spooky. > Except that the Awakened researchers that Wuxing employs
> Thaumus are mostly wujen, not mages. The wujen tradition uses five ele-
ments, not four (drop air and include metal and wood).
> Not all of those spirits are bound to Wuxing. The nature of the > Denang
area seems to attract free spirits, and they’re not shy about
chatting it up with other ghostly types. The gods only know > Could the Jade Dragon be acting as some sort of mana
what they have to discuss. prism? Perhaps it aspects the mana of the dragon lines towards
> Red Phoenix
one or more of the elements, or towards a particular type of As many of you have been informed by recent news
magic. Maybe the Jade Dragon is an artifact whose magic reports, several deposits of naturally-occurring orichalcum
hasn’t activated yet because the ambient mana level in the have been discovered in the past week. In fact, Wuxing has
world isn’t high enough—and Wu’s trying to “wake it up” early. been aware of many such deposits since this fall, and we have
> Yeoh moved quickly to capitalize upon the situation. Through the
use of geomancy and the skilled reading of the world’s dragon
lines, our researchers have been able to locate these sites
> Why aren’t any geomancers speaking up? Wouldn’t they
before the world knew they existed.
have an inkling of what’s going on here?
> Magister
> Bunk! I’ve seen it in the news, but I still firmly believe that it’s
I’m a mundane, but even I could feel the power that was impossible. Orichalcum simply can’t exist in nature—it’s a
coursing through this room. The room was alight, not just by byproduct of specialized alchemical processes. This has to be
electricity but by the glow of vibrant auras and the shine of spir- a public relations move of some sort.
it forms. I felt unnaturally calm and whole. The magical types > Silicon Mage
were getting a real kick out of it. A few were levitating around
rather than walking, as if they did it every day. Others seemed to > So a corp the size of Wuxing is just dumping money into rumor
be tapping into the power somehow. A few were actually crack- and myth? I think not. Natural orichalcum has been rumored
ling with energy (they said they couldn’t stop, I don’t know for years now, but it looks like that truth has finally become real-
whether to believe that or not). Every day now I wake up know- ity. Thank the comet, we now have a lot more work headed
ing that as long as I live I’ll never see anything more incredible our way!
than what I saw that night. I can’t wait for next year’s party …
As the celebration got underway, things got real interest-
> Prime Runner
ing. Turns out that Wu likes drinking a bit too much—or else he
was just drunk on his own sense of power. In any case, a few > This certainly explains some odd rumors I’d heard a few
hours into the party, he was addressing a small crowd of big- months back. First there were several accounts of Wuxing
wigs and his mouth started flapping a bit too loosely. Here’s research teams conducting “dowsing experiments” and other
what he had to say: magical hoopla at some out-of-the-way spots—Appalachia
and the Caucasus for example. Later, I’d heard that Wuxing
//Begin Audio Transcript// had moved in and strong-armed the sale of some land in north-
For those of you who haven’t yet met him, meet Mr. Jan western Wales, evicted all of the ranchers from the area, then
Drucus. Mr. Drucus has been a valuable member of the Wuxing set up some sort of top secret facility. Looks like Wuxing will use
community for many years now, and has outperformed himself any tactics to get at these deposits.
in handling relationships with other members of the Pacific > Ned
Prosperity Group.
I am pleased to announce that Mr. Drucus was just recent- > What’s this about “reading” the dragon lines to find the
ly appointed to the Board of Debeers-Omnitech. This heralds orichalcum? Is this something geomancers can actually do? If
the dawn of a new partnership between Wuxing and Debeers,
so, a lot of corps are going to be “acquiring” their own pet
one that we are in a position to take immediate advantage of.
geomancers soon.
> Debeers-Omnitech? They’re a subsidiary of Universal > Crane

Omnitech. UO’s a member of the Pacific Prosperity
Group that Wuxing started, so no controversy there that
I can see. ORICHALCUM VEIN DISCOVER
> Numb Posted: 11-27-61
ED!
Boston (NN)—A team of researchers
led by Tamara Nimbus of the
> Check again, buddy. Aztechnology has a big invest- Dunklezahn Institute of Magical Rese
arch announced today that
ment in UO, and the Azzies have been biting at they confirmed that a vein of unidentif
ied metal discovered in the
Wuxing’s heels for awhile now. For one thing, the Azzies Transvaal mountains of Azania was
in fact orichalcum, a precious
want in on the PPG, but that ain’t going to happen any metal used in alchemical processes.
Previously, it was believed that
time soon. And since Wuxing’s moved into the Big Ten it was impossible for orichalcum to
occur naturally and that it could
only be created synthetically. News
sphere, they’ve been muscling in on markets that are of this discovery is expected to
lead to an “Orichalcum Rush,” as pros
home turf to the Azzies. If Wuxing has sunk their teeth pectors seek out previously
undiscovered deposits of the rare alloy
into UO as well, that corp may quickly be on its way to . Over a dozen claims have
already been made against orichalcu
becoming a bloody battleground. m deposits around the world.
> Frontline

> The whole concept of tracking orichalcum deposits through //End Audio Transcript//
geomancy is ludicrous. Druids and wiccans have been playing
with mana lines for years, and they’re only steps ahead of text- And that’s it kiddies. Wu fielded a few questions and con-
book mages when it comes to understanding them. Wu’s just
gratulations, and the schmoozing went on. I left Hong Kong
with a much better understanding of Wuxing’s agenda and
impressing his shareholders with mystical gobbledygook.
goals … and now I’ve shared them with you.
> Ley Lo
> Wow, you have to hand it to Wu—this is a real coup. He def-
> Not so, Lo. I’ve seen geomancers do things with dragon lines initely stuck it to the Azzies this time.
that are quantum leaps ahead of current magical theory.
> Maus
> Snow Tiger
> Makes sense to me. There are many magical traditions that > Don’t expect the Azzies to take this laying down. As we
speak, I’m sure they’re swarming all over UO and Debeers-
have developed their style off the beaten path, refining certain
Omnitech, trying to get any angle they can to horn in on
techniques, rituals or metamagic well ahead of the main-
Wuxing’s mining scores.
stream. Take a look at voudounistas—it wasn’t until decades
after the Awakening that many mages even acknowledged > Pyramid Watcher
voudoun as a separate and distinct magical tradition. It would
not surprise me at all to find that wujen geomancers have the > The corps have an important angle here—they don’t neces-
sarily have to buy the land, they just need to acquire the min-
skill to do as Wu says.
ing rights to it. Theoretically, purchasing the rights is a lot cheap-
> Talon
er—especially when the occupants are ignorant of what the
> I’ll believe it when I see it. land actually holds.
> Ley Lo > Pragmaticus
> Hey, if that Jade Dragon thing is sitting on a manaline junc- > Or when they’re convinced to sign over rights because
tion, could it have something to do with tracking down there’s a gun to their head. This whole process is a complete
orichalcum sites? screw-job. Rich companies move in, swindle the locals out of
> Zeng millions of nuyen of resources that they owned but didn’t
even know it, screw up the environment with polluting mining
> Chinese tradition suggests that meddling with Dragon Veins practices, and then bail out, leaving them with nothing. Rat
can cause nations to crumble. corporate bastards!
> Yang > Cletus
> There’s been a bit of that going on lately. That recent “bor- > And how is this different from everyday life under capitalism?
der dispute” between Tsimshian and the Salish-Shidhe wasn’t > Retro Bob
just about bad tempers—it was a fight over a new manaline
near their border. Tsimshian has it for now, but the Salish may be > This news is sure to make Wuxing’s stock soar even higher. Of
taking it back—especially if it leads to orichalcum in the area. course, since people have been speculating on the corp since
And I’ve heard lots of nasty rumors about bloodshed in the the Big D granted them that huge cash investment, their stock
Chinese mainland. I know a few mercenaries who have more is fairly overvalued. I predict that when the market catches up
job offers than they can accept right now. to Wuxing’s real worth, their stock will go down the toilet.
> Key > Nuyen Nick
Given that our own corporate mining resources are few, we
> Not necessarily. Wuxing’s on the prowl. They’re aggressively
contracted with DeBeers-Omnitech to help with the mining of
leveraging their stock to buy up dozens of smaller PacRim corps.
the lion’s share of the deposits. In the past few months we have
And they’re making similar moves in the rest of the world to
acquired the mining rights to thousands of square kilometers of
establish operations in new untapped markets. Wuxing purchas-
land and established mining operations that should prove boun-
es these companies for nearly 100 percent stock, which means
tiful. Early estimates indicate that we will be able to mine over a
dozen metric tons of the scarce alchemical metal. Our analysts that they’re paying out no cash and thus putting no pressure on
speculate that we have cornered almost 20 percent of the avail- their bank accounts. The other companies take the stock
able deposits, and we have dozens of teams hard at work secur- because Wuxing is skyrocketing right now, just going up and up
ing sites that have not yet been claimed. We have undoubtedly with no end in sight.
claimed a position that allows us to exploit this limited resource When will Wuxing’s stock suffer a correction? It doesn’t
to our full potential. Let us toast our success! appear to be anytime soon—Wuxing’s easily holding its own.

Additionally, the more asset-rich companies they purchase some of it first hand. His perspective is interesting, and he knows
with their stock, the more they add to Wuxing’s total hard his dirt, so to speak, so scan on.
assets, which in turn justifies the higher stock price. If Wuxing > Captain Chaos
can grow fast enough, their stock won’t correct as sharply Transmitted: 27 January 2062 at 12:51:44 (PST)
when the market sours on them. It’s a self-fulfilling cycle.
by Rockhound
> The Chromed Accountant To most people, it’s just shiny rock that happens to be
“It’s all about dollars and sense.”
worth buckets of nuyen. To the Awakened, it’s raw material for
building the path to power. For me, the discovery of naturally
> Translation: Wuxing’s overvalued stock is becoming less over- occurring orichalcum deposits has been the single most excit-
valued as it takes over other smaller companies. As long as ing development in my career.
Wuxing stays smart and aggressive, they’ve got an open road.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Azzies throwing together > Parageologist? Where do you get a degree for that? The
some roadblocks in the near future. University of Made-Up Science?
> Stewart > Francis
THE ORICHALCUM RUSH
> MIT&T offers an accredited Ph.D. program in parageology.
> Once the orichalcum story broke, every corp, country, mag- The attrition rate for it runs around 90 percent. Those that drop
ical group and independent speculator with a metal detector
out go on to easier careers like industrial molecular engineer-
was scouring the map, looking for signs of “magical gold.”
ing.
Clearly, Wuxing got the jump on everyone, but there still seems
> Talon
to be plenty of the stuff to go around.
To give us the lowdown on what orichalcum actually is Let’s start with the bare essentials. Orichalcum is a magi-
and where it can be found, I enlisted the services of a para- cal alloy composed of copper, gold, silver and mercury.
geologist who we’ll call Rockhound. Rocky’s well versed in the Without magic, such a composition is completely impossible—
alchemical properties of orichalcum, and has actually mined in fact, it’s laughable. And up until a few months ago, every
single qualified expert in my field would have told you that

orichalcum could not occur in nature. The only known way to I already know what most of you are thinking—time to
create orichalcum was through the magical synthesis of alche- grab a pickaxe, find a deposit, chop a chunk or two off, and
my—a process that is simply impossible to recreate in nature. carry it home to make a focus or sell it and buy a Saab Dynamit
All of this went out the window when over a dozen 778. If only it were that easy. Orichalcum ore is exploited
deposits of orichalcum appeared, seemingly overnight. Some through underground mining, and it is usually recovered from
of these deposits appeared in places that had been previously copper or nickel sulfide minerals. But what you get is a rock of
evaluated by parageologists such as myself and were found to ore—orichalcum mixed in with other metals. With similar pre-
be lacking such elements. The existence of these deposits cious metals, the process to separate them involves smelting
clearly shows that they are unnatural—they did not develop as the ore and leaching out a concentrate in an autoclave. The
the result of geological processes over time—yet there the precious metal is then melted out of the concentrate with
veins lie, ready to be mined. hydrochloric acid, filtered out, and solidified back into a metal-
How do we explain this? Simple. If the biosphere is a liv- lic form. If you were to use this refining process with orichal-
ing organism, its Awakening will cause ripple effects in miner- cum, however, you would destroy the orichalcum and break it
als, soil and landscapes. To some degree, we witnessed some down into its component materials. To successfully separate it,
changes during the first Awakening, and in subsequent years the orichalcum ore must be placed through an alchemical cir-
since in Awakened nations such as Tir Tairngire, Tir na nOg and culation, purifying it enough to use as a radical for artificing
Amazonia. We are rapidly coming to the conclusion that we purposes. Joe Runner ain’t going to be able to do this with a
are currently in the process of a “Second Awakening,” as the chemistry set, he’ll need an enchanting shop at the very least.
advent of SURGE and other events have shown. With this And you better believe the corps have the facilities necessary.
understanding, it is certainly plausible that as the world’s back- There’s one important fact about natural orichalcum that
ground mana level continues to rise, that we will see more many prospectors and artificers don’t yet realize. Lab results
changes in the global geology. have shown that orichalcum pulled from the earth, even after
circulation, retains a level of impurity that makes it less potent
> You may find it interesting that orichalcum isn’t the only than synthetic orichalcum. This means that it is less potent for
“Awakened mineral” that’s been discovered in the ground this artificing purposes—though it is still much more valuable than
year. Parageologists from different corps and schools have other materials.
identified at least five others which are even rarer than orichal-
cum itself. Don’t expect to see these finds advertised in the THE HOT SPOTS
Matrix yet—they’re the sorts of claims that will make or break
So what does all this mean? Well the last time I checked,
a single kilogram of raw orichalcum was still worth over
both careers and companies.
1,000,000¥. That’s a pretty penny for some funny-colored
> Manganese Shake rocks that just need to be pulled from the ground. Naturally,
anyone who can find a deposit is doing everything in their
> Got any proof of that? power to lay claim to it. Here’s a rundown of some of the sites
> D Bunker I’ve heard about, as well as who’s trying to exploit them.
> I’ve read that some parageologists are questioning how long Antarctica
the orichalcum deposits will be available. Some claim that the Just a few weeks ago, some Japanese scientists from their
deposits are a temporary phenomenon and sport evidence Antarctic Showa base who had been tunneling under the ice
that they will dry up about the time the comet finishes its sec- near the Transantarctic Mountains for mineral and rock samples
ond pass. Others are claiming the deposits are here to stay. claimed to have discovered an orichalcum vein. Before
> Hyper Billy Imperial Marines could be sent to fortify the site, a massive
snowstorm swept the area, and it’s still going strong several
Nearly all the orichalcum deposits located so far have been weeks later. An expedition is ready to investigate the site as
discovered in the vicinity of powerful manaline junctions, soon as the weather clears—which could take weeks more.
power sites and other areas with unusual mana disturbances. It
is unclear exactly how these facts correlate with each other, > You can bet some other groups aren’t waiting for the weath-
though the megacorp Wuxing has claimed success at locating er to clear.
orichalcum veins by “following” mana lines—a claim disputed > Arctic Fox
by other experts.
Asamando
> Take note of this. Wuxing reports indicate that they’ve Thema Laula, Queen of the African ghoul nation of
encountered a high ratio of spontaneous appearances by spir- Asamando, subcontracted with DeBeers-Omnitech a few years
its in the region of orichalcum sites. And more than once, these back to mine diamonds, gold and other precious metals within
spirits have been rather protective of their domains. her borders. These mining projects produced a lot of byproduct
> Grasshopper material that was simply sluiced into the Black Volta river, litter-
ing the river bed all the way down to the Bay of Ghana.

Along with the discovery of orichalcum in Asamsando, it with the aid of Wuxing. He’s just become embroiled in the
turns out that much of that mining byproduct is now turning up power struggle of his life thanks to the newly appointed
as orichalcum as well. This has kicked off a rush of prospectors Chairman of the Board, Victor Heinrich. Heinrich was dropped
looking to strike it rich panning for orichalcum in the river. into place by the clout of Universal Omnitech’s board, who
seem to want to use him to regain control of Debeers-
> Lots of prospectors turn up missing a few weeks after arriving. Omnitech. It’s not clear whether Heinrich is also backed by the
I think we all know why. Azzies or whether he’s just a UO-loyalist. Only time will tell.
> Posthumous Lee > Boer Hunter
> The Asamando Nation’s deposits are a real boon for the Aztlan
country—the Queen is using them as strong leverage when Though the Aztlan government has kept a firm lid on the
negotiating for official status and trade with other nations. So matter, reports indicate that a number of new excavation pro-
far, it’s working. jects have been sponsored by Aztechnology at various archae-
ological sites. Many of these areas are in or around teocallis,
> Omniphagist
and presumed to lie on mana lines.
Avebury, England
The stone circle at Avebury is so huge a small town sits Nepal
inside its boundaries. It’s the largest stone circle known, After it was revealed that a new Wuxing meteorological
extending for several kilometers, and the May Ley Line runs station was in fact an orichalcum mining operation, the
right through it. It also happens to have the largest concentra- Himalayas have been overrun with miners and other entrepre-
tion of orichalcum veins located in England thus far. neurs. Initial reports indicate that claim-jumping bandits and
Wuxing has a small branch office in Avebury, stationed in an scavenging sasquatch tribes have benefited greatly from the
old manor once owned by the family of Wuxing shareholder influx of outsiders.
James Harper-Smythe. The business of the branch office is
unclear, and for such a small site it has an alarming amount of > I was up in the Himalayas last week, and I heard lots of yeti
security. Prior to the news about orichalcum getting out, Harper- stories. From all accounts, it sounds like the yeti have a firm
Smythe tried to buy up large segments of land around the town. grasp on why all of these prospectors are running around, and
He was met with a wall of opposition by the local gentry and have actually occupied some of the claim sites until they’ve
their Druid allies, pointing out that a registered national histori- gotten what they’ve wanted—usually food and sometimes
cal site should not be taken into the private sector. tools. Many people like to think that sasquatch are just ani-
Avebury itself, a fairly well known tourist destination, is mals—but they’re smarter than you’d expect.
now completely overrun by tourists, druids and other new age
> Llama Mama
folks eager to see with their own eyes what is happening there.
Wuxing is still fighting for mining rights, but it’s a lost battle. A recent expedition to install a wireless tower at the top
The Lord Protector of England has assigned his Oversight of Mount Everest came back with a report that they’d discov-
Board to the situation, to ensure that the country’s “national ered orichalcum ore near the summit. Considering the weath-
treasures” are not exploited. er conditions, thin air and steep mountainsides, actually mining
that ore is going to be impossible—but I’m sure some dare-
> The Lord Protector is backing the Druids on this one—they’re devil mountaineer will try anyway.
climbing over each other to claim this site. Of course, they
can’t mine it either without looking hypocritical … unless they Peru
hire some deniable prospectors. According to recent reports, orichalcum traces have been
> Natasha sampled near the remnants of ancient Incan emerald mines in
the Peruvian Andes. Reports since then have been spotty and
Azania vague at best.
Home to DeBeers-Omnitech, one of the world’s leading
precious mineral mining corps, Azania also holds roughly half of > That’s because Shiawase, Japanese Imperial Marines, com-
the world’s unmined diamond supply. Now it looks like the munist guerrillas and the drug-running Ghost Cartels are
country is also home to a good percentage of the world’s natur- engaging in a free-for-all over them.
al orichalcum. In fact, many old diamond mines are now being > 16 Volt
reactivated as traces of orichalcum are found. Debeers-Omnitech
is reaping amazing profits off of the situation, and Wuxing has Snowdonia, Wales
become a major presence in the country practically overnight. For years, rumors have circulated that the Countess of
Snowdon has overseen the mining of orichalcum from caverns
> Bas Groenenburg, the CEO of Debeers-Omnitech, has been in Blenau Ffestiniog and the mountains of central Snowdonia.
very aggressive about expanding his corporation’s markets The Countess denies this rumor, but maintains strong security

over these areas, successfully keeping out those who seek to > I’ve seen some of these AF digs, and they’re worse than
uncover the truth. According to the tales, globes of orichal- prison labor camps. They have dozens of dirt-poor Ukrainians—
cum are found inside quartz stalactites—a claim that defies the many of whom are dwarfs—who they work like they’re slaves.
recent orichalcum discoveries. This may merely be a false The conditions are abhorrent. The workers slave all day for a pit-
rumor, but reports of an increase in mining activities in
tance, receive bad food and unfiltered water, and don’t even
Snowdonia certainly lend credence to the rumors.
get medical attention when they fall or catch one of the ram-
pant diseases floating around. Somebody needs to do some-
> Rockhound’s right, Snowdonia’s orichalcum is different. I
thing about those gulags.
don’t know how, but there’s some sort of magic in those caves
that causes the orichalcum to grow inside the crystal. It’s not so > Maus
much a mining operation as it is harvesting an orichalcum farm. Unnamed Island
> Falcon Of all the spots where orichalcum has appeared, this is
one of the most interesting from a parageologist’s point of
> Oh, absolutely! And judging by that post you’re growing view. When the great dragon Dunkelzahn died, he willed the
orichalcum earwax in your head, too. lands and mineral rights for a volcanic island that would erupt
> Blastoma in the Pacific on Oct 3rd, 2060 to Federated Boeing. Sure
enough, the island appeared, right on schedule, 301 kilome-
UCAS ters off the coast of Petrolia CFS, to the delight of wyrm-lovers
Several deposits have turned up in the southern UCAS everywhere. As soon as the crust had dried, Federated Boeing
near Cumberland, Kentucky, right near the CAS border. The moved in and staked their claim. After giving it a once over,
deposit is just under the soil of a mountain that was previous- however, they realized it really wasn’t that special. They evalu-
ly strip-mined. There’s been some sort of controversy over the ated its usefulness as a research or shipping way station and
quality of the orichalcum that’s been mined from there so far, decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. So they established a small
with some experts questioning it’s purity. station with a handful of guards to keep watch, and basically
forgot about it. The guards disappeared a few months later
> I’ve been to that strip mine site. It’s a tragic, ugly place. (due to an altercation with Big Sur pirates who were scouting
After they ripped off the mountain’s skin, the vegetation out a new base), and no one bothered to replace them.
never entirely grew back. Nothing can grow there now with- Recently, FB decided to check back on their island—and
out being corrupted. discovered that Wuxing and Debeers-Omnitech were squat-
> Dogpatch ting it. The duo had established a midnight mining operation to
clear out the veins of orichalcum that allegedly lace the island.
> There’s a lot of old weirdos in those hills, hiding out in the After a short exchange of rocket fire, the situation has settled
woods, living in abandoned mine shafts and so on. They’re up into a stalemate. Wuxing still occupies the land (backed up by
to no good. There’s lots of talk of “night riders” and other bad- some missile ships), arguing to the Corporate Court that
ness. Best be careful around those parts. Dunkelzahn had no legal authority to give away land that did-
> Cletus n’t exist yet. If the Corporate Court doesn’t settle the situation
soon, it may well turn ugly quite quickly.
> I hear the CAS is really interested in these finds. It’s just a short
step over their border … > If the Court rules against Wuxing, you can be sure they’ll try to
carry out as much of that orichalcum as they can first. Anyone
> Dan-O
got a sub for hire?
Ukraine > 9-Finger Steve
The Atlantean Foundation has secured mining rights to
several deposits they have located in the Caucus Mountains, Other Sites
near the area of half a dozen Atlantean Foundation archaeo- The ones I’ve listed above are just the ones I’ve heard
logical digs. The Foundation has worked out a deal with the about through the parageologist grapevine. I’d be willing to
Ukrainian government, sliding them a percentage of the digs’ bet my pet rock collection that there are twice as many orichal-
profits in exchange for military protection. cum deposits that have been discovered but not announced,
and are quietly being mined to the very last pebble as we
> My guess is that it would be fairly easy to cut a deal with the speak. And as more prospectors scour the planet, expect new
Ukrainians to boot the Atlantean Foundation out. The Ukraine sites to be found—and fought over.
government has no love for the Atlantean Foundation, they just
need their money. > I’m sure the corps are using every resource at their disposal to
find new deposits—satellite geological readings, seismographs,
> Reality Czech
not to mention good old fashioned drilling and blowing things up.
> Retro Bob

> Given the nature of this business, keeping discoveries secret scanning a few similar accounts and odd news articles in the
is pretty important if you want to keep someone from jumping week since then, we felt it was worth digging back up.
your claim. I foresee lots of work for shadowrunners to keep cer- I checked with my friend Yeager, and he confirmed that
tain news items from reaching the bitstream and to encourage the people mentioned here were all active in the smuggling biz
folks to “keep their mouths shut.” I love being a thug. and were in fact a team. He also confirmed that they hadn’t
> Max been heard from since they took on a run headed North. We
> A lot of these claim-wars are turning into an un-tele-

vised version of the Desert Wars. Every corp with a mining
operation is keeping it heavily guarded. If I were a mega-
corporation I’d just follow others around, wait until they SHIP SINKS IN MID-PACIFIC
found a deposit, watch where they took the ore, and Posted 02-05-62
then sweep in and grab it for myself. Let the others do all Hong Kong (HTB)— A Wuxing cargo-freighter, Jade Petal, sunk
the work. last night approximately 150 kilometers due east of Western Samoa.
> Agent 68 All hands appear to be lost, though rescue craft are still searching for
survivors. There is no evidence as to what caused a suspected hull
DEAD MEN WALKING breach in the ship, which was transporting a load of light mining
> We received this email message just a few days after equipment on behalf of Debeers-Omnitech. Wuxing has asked the
Ghostwalker made his grand entrance in DeeCee, Corporate Court to investigate the incident, claiming that a flight of
through the account of a Shadowland regular known Aztechnology Aguilar attack helicopters was spotted in the vicinity.
as Nocturne. At first, we took it for an exercise in cre-
The Corporate Court and Aztechnology have declined to comment.
ative writing and placed it in the circular file. But after

also traced the message back to an uplink from a remote look around. He was sure it was an old Indian burial ground.
UCAS location near the Sioux border. So it looks legit, which He actually thought they usually buried people with gold and
means that it may in fact be true. If that’s the case, if you ever stuff. Nocturne is an idiot.
meet any of the runners mentioned here—run. Nocturne and One Ton started kicking around the field
> Captain Chaos with their flashlights, joking about the grave-robbing loot they
Transmitted: 4 January 2062 at 13:07:23 (PST) would score. Then they ran across an arm that was sticking
straight up out of the ground. When I saw it in the glare of the
//Transponder Link Achieved. Lock on FreeSat. Welcome// flashlight, I felt a bone-numbing chill come over me. I was
Okay I don’t know if anyone will get this. I’m not much of freaked, but those two jokers found it funny. They started mak-
a decker and hopefully it’ll end up in the Denver Nexus and it ing spooky sounds and prancing about like ghosts and mon-
can do you some good. sters were stalking them. Then they tried to pretend that the
As I type this my left leg is broken, at least twice. The arm had gone, that it had disappeared when they had taken
pain is making me a bit numb and I keep passing out. My the flashlights off of it. They claimed someone must have
name is Sasperilla. Some of you in Denver might know me as walked off with it. I had my thermo on, so I knew there wasn’t
Sassy or even SP. I smuggle into and out of the CAS, mostly any other living soul around.
down to Austin. Nocturne kept looking at the ground. He kept mumbling
Me and my partner Nocturne took on a job to bring some about how the arm was there and how he saw it. He got down
Cavalier Arms goodies up to Vancouver. The nuyen was good on his hands and knees and began to dig at the dirt.
and we knew that our third partner One Ton had a vehicle that I’m not sure exactly how to describe what happened next.
could make the run. One Ton was running around like a vampire he saw once in a
Our second night out we sstoooooooooooooooo simflick and I was looking back over towards the garage.
[Block Delete] Nocturne screamed.
One Ton laughed.
> This goes on for two more pages. I edited it. Nocturne was on his knees, holding the arm that was
> Captain Chaos sticking out of the ground. I simply thought he was playing
“I am everywhere!” with it, so it looked as if the hand was on his throat.
One Ton was commenting on what a class joke that was,
Sorry. I think I passed out. We stopped in South Dakota, and how we should keep the arm in the truck with us.
in an old Indian Reservation called Lower Bruhle. One Ton Nocturne kept gagging and screaming.
heard that it was abandoned and other smugglers used it for I shouted for him to shut up.
a quick stop. And then he looked at me.
His left eye had popped out of the socket and dangled by
> This is true. Once the Native American nations seceded, the optic nerves. One bony hand gripped his neck and then I
many of the old reservations in the UCAS and CAS were aban- saw a second arm break out of the ground and grip his face.
doned. Some had been re-education camps for awhile and His mouth was contorted and foam was spewing from it. One
many had been scenes of some brutal events during the war Ton stopped laughing and began puking.
that followed. Those close to the border were used as POW I ran. I rannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
camps and even MASH units or burial grounds during the con- [Block Delete]
flicts that followed. This one is just southeast of Pierre, South
Dakota, right near the Sioux boarder. It’s a ghost town, and only > This time for twelve pages—approximately 3 minutes.
a few buildings are still standing. Smugglers love places like > Captain Chaos
this—they’re great for temporary stops and hideouts. “I am everywhere!”
> Yeager
> If I didn’t just read today that a group of corpses had come
We got in just after nightfall. The place was empty. We to life in a hospital meat locker downtown, I would think this
pulled the Land Rover into one of the old barns and went for a was a load of bunk. I mean, zombies? What is this, retro B-
look around. The town was spread out and many of the build- flatvid night?
ings had fallen. The ones that were still intact were tagged with > Pragmaticus
all sorts of anti-Amerind graffiti, all old. It was pretty clear that
no one really lived here anymore. > I just did a global news search, and came back with over 30
We were walking though an open field when One Ton hits about alleged zombie attacks in the past few days. It looks
tripped. Nocturne pulled out his flashlight and after a quick search like this is for real. It’s only a matter of time before the media
of the grounds we found it. It was a hand. A freakin’ human hand.
catches on and cranks up the hype and paranoia dial.
It was mostly bones, and purposely covered in the dirt.
Yeah, it creeped us out. Me mostly. I wanted to head back > Scoop
to the garage. But no, Nocturne thought it would be cool to go

> So what’s causing it? A plague? Magic? And if anyone tries ed it up when I saw him in the side mirror. It was One Ton! I
to tell me it’s the fraggin’ comet, I’m going to introduce you to couldn’t believe it. I was screaming uncontrollably—laughing
the afterlife. and crying and terrified out of my wits.
He moved a bit slower than he normally did, but he was
> Pragmaticus probably hurt too. When he got to the driver door. I started to
feel funny, kind of sick. I figured it was the leg and the relief at
> Sounds like voodoo to me. seeing him. And then he touched me. The coldness of his hand
> Swamp Monster on my arm, the strange feeling of my life being sucked from me.
I started to scream again, and that’s when I saw it, the hole in
> Not unless a creepy cabal of houngans has been secretly One Ton’s neck. It was as big as a fist and I could see his spine.
storing up corpses and preparing their zombie army for world I was dying. I knew it. But I couldn’t seem to move.
conquest. Hey! Now there’s an idea … In a last ditch effort I swung my legs out and kicked One
> Holden C. Ton. He had no real balance and fell back against the door and
then to the ground under the chassis. He grabbed my leg, the
The hands were everywhere. They seemed to be growing broken one. The only way to get him to let go was to continue
out of the ground. I saw an arm and even a skull. I kept to slam the door on both my legs and his hands. I was scream-
screaming and kept running. The only place I knew was safe ing and slamming long after he let go. All I remember is gun-
was the Land Rover. ning the Land Rover. I crashed through the closed end of the
In between his dry heaves, I could hear One Ton calling after barn and the Rover got stuck. I passed out.
me for help. Screw the bastard, I thought. Too dumb to run. I’m not sure how long I was passed out. The Land
I only stopped running when I heard Nocturne stop Rover’s battery was still working and I was able to grab an
screaming. I looked back and I saw them. Living corpses. They AK-97 from one of the crates. The good news was that One
pulled themselves up from the ground. Some were skeletons, Ton lay there twitching.
some looked more like ghouls. I screamed myself hoarse as I I also found Nocturne’s cyberdeck. I tried to remember
saw five of them pull One Ton down to the ground. The stupid how to make the satellite uplink work. He taught me once.
ork was screaming like a little girl. I continued to pass out and write this.
It didn’t stop me. I was heading towards the garage. I was They are out there, watching.
going to start the Land Rover and then I was going to drive to I woke up again and One Ton was gone. That has me wor-
Vancouver myself. Frag this place. ried. I can’t move very well, but maybe I can get this message
I heard the gunshot, then fell over suddenly. I felt the pain out. Maybe get help.
in my leg. I think I blacked out because I woke up with a face I can hear them coming now. It’s unnaturally dark, and my
full of dirt and my left leg was throbbing. thermo’s not picking up a thing. I just remembered to check
I turned to see some sort of zombie standing above me. my ammo, and the damn magazine is empty. I don’t even
I never saw anything like it. The sims of ghouls that I’ve have a bullet to finish myself off. Here they come. Damn,
seen don’t match up. Nocturne’s leading the way.
It was a human and male. It was still wearing what looked I hope I don’t ‘ jas’mi0ga8ew9j-0KWQKD-
like an army uniform, though it was falling from its emaciated HJMV’AS’M’ON8V QJ9JF2
body. There were no actual eyes, only sockets. The head was J90CKSD90ANVM
mostly just skull and the left part of the jaw was disconnected //End Link//
and hung open and away from the rest of the skull. It was awk-
wardly holding a rusted pistol. > Well, a truck full of guns sitting in a barn in an abandoned
It reached towards me, but I dodged away. I kicked it with Indian reservation! See you in Pierre!
my good leg and I heard bones crunch. It began to fall toward > Prime Runner
me. I rolled along the ground until I was well out of its way. I
would have laughed watching it try to stand if I wasn’t in so
> Hmpf. Unnatural darkness. Overpowering panic. Paralyzing
much pain and it wasn’t a living freakin’ skeleton.
fear. A feeling of life being drained away. Sounds like a spirit to
It started coming towards me. But it was shuffling, like
me. Maybe an offshoot of wraiths, or some kind of free spirit.
its legs didn’t work right. Even with my bad leg I could still
out run it. > Magister
There were some others shambling in my direction. A dog
walked next to one of them, eating the flesh off its leg. I was > Has anyone assensed one of these things yet?
screaming again. I couldn’t stop. I emptied my gun. The bullets > Philosomancer
ripped into them, knocking them around. I even hit the dog.
But they kept coming. > I have. I was helping someone dispose of a recently
My leg hurt so bad it was burning. I hobbled to the garage deceased enemy, without leaving a trail. So we made a deliv-
barn door and opened it. The Land Rover was sitting there just ery to a local shop that’s supposed to be a front for Tamanous.
like we left it. I hobbled to the driver side and got inside. I start- The place was devoid of life … but it was crawling with

undead. We scooted, but I got an astral glimpse before we their new homes. These new spirits have no purpose other than
bailed. Each one was dual natured. If I had to wager a guess, to feed and cause harm. To them we are no better than cattle
I’d say it looked like a spirit was possessing a body—with some to be slaughtered.
noticeable differences. I can’t explain it, but it was creepy. I
tossed a manabolt at one, and it shrugged it off like I’d thrown > Well that really helps. Oh yes, we can make a corpse get up
a tomato at it. If you run across these things, whatever they are, and dance and eat your brains, but we’re not responsible for
take my advice and run. these attacks, it must be something else. Please. Cap, couldn’t
> Manacle you get someone who could at least come up with a better
excuse than “He did it!?”
WITCH HUNT > Hotwire
> As soon as the first reports of zombie attacks and walking
dead hit the trid, rumours and speculation began flying fast > Go frag yourself limey. I lost a chummer to a swarm of these
and freely. It could only be expected in this time of mass hyste- things. I want to know where they came from so I can get me
ria that reports of flesh-eating zombies would be attributed some payback.
towards the practitioners of voudun. In no time at all, a full > Sneaks
scale witch hunt was underway. Across the globe, houngans
and loa-worshippers have been ostracized, exiled and even There is a great responsibility involved with creating a
attacked or jailed. Even in the Caribbean League, where zombie, and this is not something that any houngan or mambo
takes lightly. Most zombies are purely animated bones and
voudoun has its roots, a lot of scared and hostile people are
flesh, nothing more than a puppet controlled by its creator. In
running the houngans out in fear for their own lives.
rare instances, a zombie can slip free of its strings and become
In the interest of keeping all of our collective hoops intact,
what is known as a grande zombie. Though terrifying and pow-
I’m posting whatever info we get. Remember, people, that we
erful, a grande zombie is more akin to a spirit or elemental
do not know what these spirits are or what they want with us, so which has become separate from the mage or shaman that con-
let’s try to keep the wild paranoia with in tolerable limits. trols it. A grande zombie does feed on the flesh of the living to
I’ve asked Doc Cane to try and give us the real data on sustain itself, and while they sound the same as the spirits that
the situation down there. He’s been on the front lines since this are currently plaguing us, let me tell you, they are not the same.
zombie-uproar started. Some of you may remember that the “Ah,” you say, “but what about houngans that follow a
good Doctor provided the info on voudoun for our little write up darker path?” Yes, friends, it is true. Like all religions, voudoun
on running in the Big Easy, so he knows what he’s talking about. has a dark side. Those who practice the petro ways walk a
Read and learn kiddies, this could save your life. shadowy path of wrath and revenge. They indulge in human
> Captain Chaos sacrifice and use the power of blood to summon spirits to pun-
Transmitted: 22 January 2062 at 11:47:31 (PST) ish those who have crossed them. This desire soon leads to
their downfall, but the call of power is too great for some to
by Doc Cane ignore. Knowing this, it is easy to see how the media and the
These are dark times, bonhommes, very dark indeed. public could think that houngans are in a way responsible for
Rumors from all over are saying that the dead now walk, that these recent attacks.
they eat the flesh of the living and curse the earth where they Yet even the petro followers of Baron Samedi agree that
pass. Spurred on by fear, everyone’s looking to find a scape- these undead are not servants of the loa. In the voudoun tradi-
goat to blame. Those with the Talent are blamed, especially tion, the spirits of the dead are a power to be respected and
those who speak to the loa. The fearmongers claim that houn- feared, and these are not the spirits of dead ancestors. These are
gans and mambos have conjured evil spirits to plague the liv- something entirely alien. Much like the insect spirits that have
ing. I’ve heard experts blame the phenomenon on the traveled to our world, these spirits may be part of the natural
“Voodoo Wars” that shook the Caribbean a short while ago. The mana cycle that simply has not manifested itself until now.
media makes reference to the “Voodoo Plague.” We all know
how dangerous bad press can be. But I know of spirits that are > I know of some who claim that these new undead are a
far more dangerous … sign—indicating the beginning of a great cleansing. Once they
Let me set the record straight, my children. That the dead have consumed all the evil in the world, they will leave.
walk the earth is nothing new. To those familiar with the ways > Necropolis
of the loa and the trickery of Ghede, the sight of a shambling
corpse is unremarkable. Yes, it is quite true that Voudoun does
involve the animation of dead bodies, or zombies. But these
> Consume all the evil? Drek, it’d take ’em a month just to con-
sume the “evil” on my block. And from what I’ve heard, these
zombies are servants of the loa, and their existence is due to
creepies aren’t picky about whom they eat—they’ll munch on
their will. These are not the creatures that now stalk the earth
innocent children and evil criminals alike.
in droves, feeding on the living.
In truth, new spirits have entered our world. These spirits > Holden C.
take shelter in the empty husks of the dead, seizing corpses as

Knowing this to be true, it saddens me to see the ignorant government have erected blockades around shipping lanes,
and rash response against the loa’s children. In the past few boarding and astrally scanning vessels to ensue that none of
weeks, those who walk the path of the loa have been blamed for these entities are on board. This has caused a drastic rise in the
crimes they did not commit, ostracized for their beliefs, and hunt- price of shipping, not to mention that the prices on the black
ed by those who wrongfully seek revenge. Some governments market are skyrocketing. Many pirates are getting rich by
have gone so far as to place curfews and other restrictions on my charging huge prices to smuggle people out of the CAS and
people. The CAS has deemed it appropriate to place a bounty on back to the CL where they’re safe.
houngans who would dare to follow the loa’s leadership.
> Scoop
> What? The CAS is offering a bounty on houngans? New
> Prices for certain fetish materials only found in the Carib are
Orleans must be a war zone!
going through the roof. Anyone who is able to sneak through
> 9-Finger Steve the blockades, grab the stuff and return can name their price.
> Monkeyboy
> Check your facts people, this is how bad Matrix rumors get
started. Here’s the official CAS statement:
“Until the nature of these apparent beings has been deter-
> The British Navy found a cargo ship on Bermuda’s south shore
two days ago that was crawling with undead sailors. Damn
mined, the police will be enforcing restrictions on practitioners
things killed the boarding crew before the Brits napalmed the
of magic and those who follow the religious system of voudoun
ship to Hades.
for their own safety and the well being of the general popu-
lace. Furthermore, the CAS government is offering a bounty of
> Hotwire
100,000¥ for the capture of anyone found to be associated Our people are not taking this provocation lying down.
with the summoning and control of extra-planar entities for the Many of the voudoun sects have decided to resist through
animation of dead bodies, be they animal or human.” peaceful and non-violent means. A few others have decided to
See? It’s only a bounty on houngans—or others—who cre- strike back with force. The sects that still operate openly with-
ate zombies. And creating zombies was already illegal any- in the CAS have put out a call to stand up to the government,
way. Not as bad as it was made to seem. and are pursuing other diplomatic options.
> Pragmaticus
> I don’t think anyone’s even tried to pursue the CAS bounty in
> Great, not only does this give CAS cops more freedom to New Orleans. Everyone knows better than to piss off the krewes,
hand out beatings, it justifies vigilante squads out to enforce zobops and other voudoun players.
redneck justice. Thank the spirits I got out of there. > Tex-Mex
> Tex-Mex The Voice of Ogoun is the loudest and best-known sect
calling for a united stand against this unwarranted aggression.
> This isn’t a joke either. It’s affecting all magicians, not just
Their interim leader, Marcus Cross, had been trying to meet
houngans. In the past week, dozens of talismongering shops with various members of the CAS government until his arrest
have been shut down, while others have been destroyed by on the steps of the capital.
angry mobs.
> Scorch > According to the latest CAS posting, Marcus is being held
“comfortably in protective custody of the state” in a secure
> You should see the so-called secure areas where the govern- area outside of Houston. Basically they’ve got his hoop in an
ment is placing anyone suspected of associating with zombie internment camp, where he’ll rot.
spirits or voodoo. Makes the re-education camps of the early > Spyder
century look like a country club.
> Spyder > Who’s this Marcus guy? I thought Justin Rochefort was named
Head Houngoun of the Voice?
> The drastic CAS response has caused a massive flood of > Agent 68
refugees back to the Caribbean League. The Carib League
itself is in a bit of an uproar over the matter. A few islands are > He was. On December 31, 2060, Justin Rochefort was named
reacting as badly as the CAS, but most of them are taking it in the Head Houngan after a series of trials to win the talon clip-
stride, or even offering protection to voudoun followers. pings that Dunklezahn left behind in his will. Rochefort was
The tension has increased friction among the various gacked two days later while en route to Washington to collect
pirate kingdoms as well. A few skirmishes have broken out, the prize from the Draco Foundation. Marcus was brought in as
sparked by zombie fears. To make matters worse, both the gov- the interim leader, but he’s not the leader that Justin was. His
ernment of the Confederated American States and the British arrest has severely crippled the Voice’s political power, which

was already hurting after Rochefort’s demise. Expect the fight These spirits, dubbed “shedim” by the media, were com-
for leadership to begin again. pletely unknown until very recently. Sightings have been
> Eye Tower reported in the entire country and throughout the world.
> The Shango cult from Trinidad iced Rochefort. They never > Does that name have any special significance?
approved of him because he wasn’t born in the CL. > Tomtom
> Jack.W.Frost
> It means “undead.”
> Actually, my money is on the CAS or Azzies. Both govern- > Joey
ments benefit form keeping the various sects unbalanced and
Though appearances are rare and unlikely to take place,
from uniting and becoming a force to be reckoned with.
the potential trauma this spirit can cause is severe enough that
> Fishy every member of the general public should be made aware of
With Marcus’ arrest, our anger has risen. It is rumored that these spirits’ existence and abilities.
the red sects seek revenge against the CAS. Several government
buildings have been bombed or attacked by spirits already. What Are Shedim Spirits?
Many are calling for the CAS to rescind the restrictions and boun- Shedim spirits are magical creatures that live on the astral
ty and for the release of Marcus. plane. They have the ability to take control of the deceased bod-
ies of metahumans and animals alike, animating them.
> We will not stand by and allow our brethren to be con-
demned in such a manner. There will be retribution rained
> Holy drek, these things can take over animal corpses too? I
don’t relish the thought of running into a shedim shark or
down upon those who have crossed us.
shedim gargoyle!
> Maman Sangre
> The Alarmist
> So you’re gonna whip up some more of your little flesh eaters No other information is currently available concerning the
then? Good let me know where you are, so I can collect the origin of these spirits, but an emergency program to find ways
bounty for your hoop. to stop these spirits is under way. Its findings will be imple-
> Black Eagle mented as soon as possible.
> Latest news, people. Two bodies were found in a Baton How Can Shedim Spirits Affect My Health?
Rouge cemetery yesterday. One was the Mayor’s aide, and All the evidence collected thus far indicates that shedim
the other was the missing intern from the governor’s office. Both spirits cannot affect your health. Living people cannot be con-
their hearts were ripped out, and the bodies have what appear trolled by them, and because these spirits cannot affect the
to be bite marks. Anyone care to take a guess at who did it? physical world, you are in no danger from suffering bodily
harm from them.
> Impact
Heed this warning, my children. The followers of the loa > Bulldrek! One of my chummers was out for a bit of astral
are not responsible for bringing these new undead to Earth. But snooping, and when he came back his body had disap-
if we are persecuted for it, we will spill as much blood as we peared! When he tracked it down he found that some spirit
need to pass through these dark times. whose aura he’d never seen before had taken it for a walk.
> Wallow
DEAD ON ARRIVAL
> You want the lowdown on these new zombies? Well, for once, > You’re saying that these shedim don’t just take over the
the feds are doing their job. This National Alert comes hot off dead, but can hijack any “empty” body? Glad I’m only an
the wire. For your viewing pleasure, we’ve also appended the adept.
confidential attachment that was only sent out to law enforce- > Cannonball
ment and certain government agencies.
> Captain Chaos > It’s easy to arrange for them to take over your body anyway.
Transmitted: 23 January 2062 at 04:21:40 (PST) > Wavy
NATIONAL ALERT: A WARNING ABOUT “SHEDIM” SPIRITS However, there have been a number of cases across the
Issued 10 January 2062 country of persons suffering severe psychological trauma due
The recent discovery of a new type of magical spirit which to a shedim spirit taking control of the body of a deceased per-
may cause psychological problems is reason for the UCAS son. For this reason, the DHMS advises everyone to read the
Department of Health and Metahuman Services (DHMS) to General Tips, below, and follow those recommendations.
issue this alert to the general public.

> “Psychological trauma.” Sorry, I don’t exactly think you can > Which happens quite a lot these days. With this shedim scare,
rationalize having your face ripped off and your entrails people want to get rid of their dead ASAP, so they often give
chewed on by a goddamn zombie as “psychological.” Where them to the first person who claims to dispose of them in a way
the bloody drek do they find the scags that write these things? that will prevent possession by shedim. Usually the bereaved
> Young even pay the organleggers for the privilege of having the body
chopped up after they’ve gone.
> They all used to write corp ad copy. > Plaidinum
> 9-Finger Steve
> This begs the question: can you trust even licensed undertak-
General Tips ers? After all, you never actually get to see the coffin go into
It is recommended that all bodies be cremated immediately the incinerator—they make it disappear through some elevator
after death, unless otherwise directed by the appropriate author-
contraption and only actually incinerate it when everyone’s
ities, such as by court order, your local police force or the FBI.
gone home. I don’t want to think about this.
> Within two days of the press release I’ve seen strong > Fullerton
protests against that recommendation from Christians, Jews Important LTG Numbers
and Muslims alike. Nothing big, but all very heated because UCAS Department of Health and Metahuman Services
it goes against some of their basic religious beliefs. One (DHMS): NA/UCAS-NC 202 (625-7365)
spokesman on the trid said they’ll fight this in court if it’s not DHMS General Information: 800 (239-8226)
withdrawn soon. National Response Center: 800 (424-8802)
> ASDF
> Why not just bury them? Even if a shedim spirit gets inside the DHMS REPORT ON “SHEDIM” SPIRITS—SECRET]
body, it’ll be confined to the coffin six feet underground. Not a > This is the part the government doesn’t want you to know
problem to anyone but itself. about yet. Things are a lot worse than they’re made out to be
> Expo-Man in that press release.
> Captain Chaos
> Haven’t you seen B-horror flicks? When you’re dead, you’ve “I am everywhere!”
got all the time in the world to dig yourself out, even if it takes
This report details what is currently know about shedim spir-
a few months to claw through the casket. It’s not like they have
its (hereafter “shedim”). Our knowledge about this phenomenon
to eat or breathe or anything. is incomplete, but further studies are underway to assess what
> Cannonball danger is posed to the UCAS population. A basic understanding
by the reader of common magical techniques is assumed.
> There’s nothing more unsettling than walking through a Though occurrences of shedim-like spirits have been
cemetery and hearing someone thump the inside of a coffin reported since late September 2061, definitive proof of their
below your feet. existence was not established until December 25, 2061.
> Steel The word “shedim” means “undead” in Hebrew. It has
been applied to these spirits by the media since it was first
Bodies that cannot be cremated should be stored in areas used by an independent trideo station.
protected by magical barriers. Efforts are underway to provide
such facilities at all morgues, but full implementation through- Habits & Behavior
out the UCAS will take some time. It is speculated that shedim enter the astral plane via
Do not trust people or companies who claim to incinerate unknown methods from a home metaplane. They cannot mate-
bodies unless they can show the proper licenses issued by the rialize onto the physical plane unaided (unlike most other types
federal, state or local government. If in doubt, contact the of spirit presently known). Virtually the only behavior shown by
DHMS for verification of such licenses before coming to any an astral shedim is a relentless search for a body to inhabit.
arrangement with any organization making such claims. To interact with the physical world, shedim must inhabit a
body. The most common choice is a metahuman or animal
> That I don’t get. corpse, but incidents have been reported where shedim pos-
> Joey sessed the bodies of magicians who had projected their con-
sciousness onto the astral plane.
> It’s a warning against organleggers. Obviously they don’t
want to just say, “Don’t give your grandfather’s corpse to > Woah. No way am I ever going to leave my body without
someone you don’t trust ’cause they’ll sell it for parts.” astral protection again. Wards or spirits, at the least!
> Streak > Wiz Kid

The condition of the corpse does not seem to limit shed- identified, techniques for the summoning and binding of free
im, though they clearly favor “fresher” corpses. Once taken spirits have not yet been tested.
over, the corpse no longer seems to decay, though this has not
been confirmed yet through sustained observation. Shedim > Someone I met said he summoned a shedim, so it is possible.
spirits seem incapable or unwilling of leaving a corpse once He didn’t say how he did it, though.
they have inhabited it. > Cannonball
> Well, the Museum of Natural History just improved their astral > I was there too, CB, and his breath alone was enough to get
security. They didn’t take kindly to one of these shedim trying to me drunk. I’d take the claim with a grain of salt.
walk off in one of their mummy exhibits. > Sister Sledgehammer
> Word Broker
Many shedim have exhibited a strong inherent resistance
No specific subtypes of shedim have been identified to magic. They also possess the ability to regenerate any dam-
with certainty, though documented encounters suggest that age inflicted upon their host bodies. This ability does not seem
some shedim have abilities not possessed by other shedim. to allow the shedim to repair the body to full functionality—
It is unknown at this time whether this is merely variation they are only capable of restoring it to the same level of
among a species or whether there are in fact separate shed- decomposition as when they inhabited the body. In any case,
im breeds. Careful observation on the astral plane has distin- these factors make shedim especially difficult to kill. Evidence
guished individual characteristics between different shedim, has shown, however, that mana spells affect the shedim spirit
suggesting that some shedim may simply be more potent and not the host body, and a strong mana attack may penetrate
that others. its defenses and injure or kill the creature. Additionally, if a
The majority of shedim spirits seem to travel in packs, pre- shedim’s host body is totally destroyed, it cannot regenerate
ferring to occupy a number of bodies en masse. Whether this and the shedim is purged from it back into the astral plane.
is a characteristic of social behavior or a simple survival/pro- When inhabiting a body, shedim are dual natured. In this
tection mechanism is unclear. They do not show signs of intel- state, they are limited by wards and other magical security
ligence, functioning more by instinct than through decision- precautions.
making. They seem to feed off of the life force of living beings, Experiments on captured specimens show that normal
and for some undetermined reason they may also consume banishing methods work equally well on shedim as on other
meat or metahuman flesh. types of spirit, provided the shedim is not inhabiting a corpse
There have been a few exceptions observed to these at the time. Shedim that are inhabiting a corpse can be ban-
behavioral standards. Some shedim remain separate from a ished (exorcised), but this takes more effort, since banishing
pack, seeming to prefer to act on their own. These solitary only exorcises them from the corpse. They must then be ban-
shedim have exhibited more intelligence, but it is unclear if ished a second time in order to be destroyed.
they are sentient. It appears a shedim cannot repossess a body from which
it has been exorcised.
> Just what the world needed: one more kind of brain-eating,
life-draining undead. I do hope these are vulnerable to high- Long-term Solutions
velocity lead poisoning, unlike most of their kind. The most obvious solution to the shedim problem is to
> Arclight deny the spirits access to corpses, thereby confining them to
the astral plane where they are fairly weak and more easily
The appearance of shedim-inhabited corpses often leads dealt with.
to the shedim being confused for a ghoul (Manesphagus hor- Emergency measures are being put into place recom-
ridus) or zombie (no taxonomy). mending the incineration of all corpses (metahuman and ani-
mal) within 24 hours of death, and the storage of any corpses
> If you’re only going by smell, sure. Otherwise, it’s not too hard not (yet) incinerated behind powerful astral barriers. Though
with a bit of experience. not a true solution, assessments show the number of shedim-
> Harry related incidents will be reduced by a minimum of approxi-
mately 40 percent.
Shedim pose a serious threat to the health and welfare of
> Like anyone would want that kind of experience.
UCAS citizens, especially those who regularly deal with dead
> Expo-Man bodies of metahumans or animals. Whenever they are encoun-
Handling Shedim tered, the proper authorities should be notified immediately.
DHMS magicians have attempted standard methods of //End File Attachment//
spirit handling on shedim, with varying degrees of success.
Shedim appear not to respond to standard hermetic or PUTTING THE DEAD TO REST
shamanic summoning or controlling techniques. Since the > I would never have expected the Catholic Church to be on
astral metaplane from which shedim originate has not yet been the cutting edge of magical theory, but in the context of these

new spirits known as shedim, the Church seems to know what Jenkins: What exactly do you mean by “uninhabited,” Father?
it’s talking about. The following interview gives a fairly compre- That sounds rather unsettling.
hensive overview of our new astral visitors, in a language and
format that even mundanes like me can understand. Rass: Well, to be blunt, they can only inhabit a body that no
> Captain Chaos longer has a soul. In other words, their possession power
Transmitted: 12 February 2062 at 20:09:02 (PST) seems to be limited to dead bodies.
//Begin Audio Transcript// Jenkins: So they can’t possess living people? Only dead ones?
Jenkins: Good evening, and thanks for joining us. With us
tonight is Father Paul Rass, an expert on spirits and the Public Rass: Correct. As far as we know.
Relations Director for the Roman Catholic Church’s Order of St.
Sylvester. Father Rass, glad to have you back. Jenkins: Is there anything we can do to protect our dead from
having their bodies desecrated by these things?
Rass: Happy to be here, Kevin. Always glad to fill in some
holes for your audience. Rass: The holy nature of the Last Rites seems to keep the shed-
im from entering the body for a time.
Jenkins: Well, let’s just hope this interview is as informative as
our last one, when SURGE first started—the ratings were phe- Jenkins: But not forever? Is there anything else that can be
nomenal! done?
Rass: (smiling) I’ll do my best. Rass: Well, the cremation of the body soon after death will
deprive the shedim of a host, though on the whole we disap-
Jenkins: Yes, well, I have no doubt that our viewers will be prove of cremation unless there is no other choice. Members
more than satisfied. Now to get started, quite a variety of of my Order are working around the clock to ward and protect
unknown spirit types have come through Dunkelzahn’s Rift, the coffins of the dead faithful from astral intrusion, which will
correct? keep the shedim from being able to reach the body, and thus
stop possession. Bodies should also be stored until burial in
Rass: Yes, that’s right, Kevin—not that we were anywhere near consecrated, warded areas—the governments of various
cataloguing the spirits that were around before that, mind you. nations have begun providing similar areas, but of course I rec-
It’s like finding and studying all the animals in the world—each ommend using the Church’s facilities instead.
time you think you’re done, someone finds a new species of
bug or whatnot. It’s the same with spirits—these new types Jenkins: Of course. Tell me Father, what happens if these shed-
just add to the number we haven’t studied yet. To be honest, I im do possess a body?
don’t know if we’ll ever discover all of the different spirit types.
Or animals, for that matter. Rass: Well, to begin with, the shedim have been able to take
over the dead bodies of both people and animals. An obvious
Jenkins: A bit of pessimism on your part, Father? parallel exists between the shedim and the devils known as
Legion, cast out by our Lord from a man and forced into the
Rass: Not really, Kevin. I’m just not sure if we could do it bodies of pigs. This is the first type of spirit known to readily
before the Second Coming of Our Lord, and even if we did, inhabit animal bodies, lending credence to theories that they
how would we know when we were done? It isn’t as if we have are of demonic origin.
a list of these things, now is it?
Jenkins: Are you saying that these spirits may in fact be the
Jenkins: True enough, Father. I concede the point. Now, about servants of Satan?
these new spirit types—the one that has grabbed the public’s
attention the most is the “shedim.” What can you tell us about Rass: With stress on the word “may,” that is exactly what I
these guys? am saying. The effectiveness of the Last Rites seems to back
this up, as does the fact that the Church’s exorcism ritual has
Rass: Well, the magical community doesn’t have a lot of solid proven quite effective in driving the shedim from their cur-
information so far, but we have discovered a few things about rent body.
the shedim. Unlike other spirits, which are often loathe to take We live in a world of magic and mystery, Kevin. Both
a material form in the physical world, preferring to stay in their Goblinization and SURGE have brought many old legends to
astral form, the shedim fancy the opposite. They seem to dis- life—is it really so hard to believe that the devil is real as well, and
like a purely astral state, and so they seek to find a body for sends his minions to assault the children of God? I know it seems
themselves as soon as possible. However, they can’t make outlandish, and keep in mind I don’t know for certain that the
their own bodies out of whole cloth, as other spirits can. They shedim are demonic, but discounting the idea simply because it
need to find one that already exists, but that is uninhabited. appears outlandish seems fairly unrealistic in this day and age.

Jenkins: OK, OK, Father, I surrender—you’ve made your point. > I had the same experience, but I usually get that reaction
So, what should we do if we encounter one of these shedim in from spirits in areas with background count.
a possessed body?
> Necropolis
Rass: First of all, stay away from it! I cannot stress this enough.
Leave dealing with these spirits to the experts. Contact your
> What do the loa think of shedim?
priest or, if none are available, a magician you know to be of > Inquisitor
good conscience. Your priest will contact my Order, which has
members all over the world, and he will come, day or night, as > I am blessed to carry the mantle of Ghede, the Lord of Death
soon as he can to perform an exorcism and then a banishment. and the consumer of all things. Ghede is also a lover of pranks
Until he arrives, do whatever you can to keep the spirit where and trickery, and revels in the making of fools. But Ghede finds
it is physically without putting yourself in danger. no humor in the shedim, my children. In Ghede’s eyes, the
shedim are a mockery of his power, and he would consume
Jenkins: What about these rumors of the bodies of magicians them wherever he can.
being possessed by these shedim while they are astrally pro- > Horse Fly
jecting?
> I have a message to pass on.
Rass: These rumors are unfortunately true. When a magician Recently, my grandfather died. Grandpa Joe was a
projects into the astral plane, his soul leaves his body. It is pos- leader of our people, and carried our tribe through many
sible for a shedim to then take control of the body while the uncomfortable years. When his health failed, he was honored
magician is away.
as an elder, and he enlightened our people with many words
of wisdom over the years. When he died, we held a traditional
Jenkins: I see! Well, we’re out of time, so I must say thank you
ceremony to honor him, and to honor all of our dead. Our
and good night to Father Rass. Join us tomorrow, when I inter-
view a sailor who claims to have encountered a ghostly ancestors were called upon to escort Grandpa Joe on his jour-
Blackbeard and his crew! ney onwards.
The next night, I was graced with a visit in my home by our
UNINVITED GUESTS honored ancestors. Rarely have they chosen to come directly
to me, and never more than one at a time. But this time there
> The following excerpt comes from an Open Forum discussion
on the shedim. My reasons for including it should be quite clear. were many of them, including Grandpa Joe.
My ancestors were irate. “What have you done?” they
> Captain Chaos
Transmitted: 15 February 2062 at 09:37:41 (PST) asked me. “Why have you dishonored us so?” I abased myself
at their wrath. I was afraid. They had cold fire in their eyes. I
[Begin Log: Shedim SIG : 13 February 2062 at 15:48:30 PST] explained that I did not understand why they were angry. They
called me irresponsible. They called me a poor guardian. I pled
> Does anyone know how other spirits view these shedim crit- ignorance, and begged to be told what was wrong.
ters? Do they get along? Are they astral buddies? Or do other
Grandpa Joe stepped forward. These were his words: “Let
spirits treat them like some revolting thing that just crawled out
all know. Let everyone, everywhere know. We will not tolerate
from the sewer grate?
this intrusion. We will not tolerate this abuse of our sacred forms.
> Inquisitor Those who would debase our memories must be destroyed.
They are uninvited guests, and must be shown the same hospi-
> I sicced a fire elemental on a group of shedim zombies. It
tality one shows a thieving weasel.”
seemed to enjoy blasting the corpses with flame, but it usually
Then Grandpa Joe left me, as did the others.
does. It didn’t seem to have any particular reluctance to
I raced down the path to where we had buried Grandpa
attack, nor did it seem to get an extra thrill out of it.
Joe, but I did not reach his grave. Halfway down the path, I saw
> Shetani a figure in the moonlight, perhaps more. I called upon Owl to
gain her vision of the night, and then I clearly saw what can
> I once ran across some shedim in a graveyard, and I asked only be called an abomination. The body of Grandpa Joe was
the spirit of that place to aid me in casting them out. The spir-
coming towards me, with the bodies of several others close
it granted me the favor, but it seemed reluctant to do so. I was
behind. But it was not Grandpa Joe. It was a thief.
given the impression that it didn’t like dealing with such …
I followed my ancestors’ instructions. I warn you to heed
unnatural … things.
them as well.
> Eli > Night Watcher
[End Log]

RED SUNSET, RED SUNRISE
apan’s undergone quite a few changes in a relatively short time. Despite an article in the
J Constitution prohibiting the maintenance of military forces, the government established the
Self-Defense Force in 1954, rationalizing that it was for self-defense purposes only and was-
n’t truly military. Then came the Second Korean War, when North Korea launched several
nuclear missiles at Japan (all of which were shot down). This led to some reforms in 2006, where
the Emperor became even more of a figurehead than he already was and Japan became
Imperial Japan. The SDF’s name also changed to fit the reality, becoming the Imperial military.
Though the Emperor lacked actual political power, everything the government did was pro-
claimed to be in his name, recalling the glories of previous centuries. They also began an
aggressive campaign of expansion, both militarily and economically, as evidenced by the
occupation of the Philippines in 2021 and San Francisco in 2036. And let’s not forget the expan-
sion of the Japanacorps all over the world.
Guess what—that’s just the beginning. Scan this and you’ll see what I mean.
> Captain Chaos
Transmitted: 16 March 2062 at 04:27:55 (PST)
DISASTER STRIKES
[Begin Log : Japan SIG : 27 October 2061 at 00:02:50:23 PST]
> I’ve just heard reports on some of the news channels that Japan has been hit by a series of
small tremors in the past couple of hours. Anyone else monitoring the news feeds?
> Snow Dragon
> Yeah. Apparently there was a 5.5 near Yokohama a bit over two hours ago, and they just reg-
istered a 5.9 offshore from Nagoya. The one near Yokohama has started a few small fires and
caused some structural damage, but nothing spectacular. Not much info on the one near
Nagoya yet. It’s offshore, so they might get some minor tidal surges.
> Manticore

> No surprises there. Japan has been unstable for the past where in the Sea of Japan. A tsunami alert has just been
year or so. Lots of little earthquakes, and some of the volca- released for the entire northern coastal area. There are after-
noes up in Hokkaido have been puffing sporadically for the shocks being registered all over the place. It looks like Unzen
past few months. Does anyone care to place any money on Volcano may have triggered some major bad karma for
the big “Gojira quake” hitting Tokyo this year? It’s definitely Japan. Just pray that Fuji-sama doesn’t feel like going copycat.
well overdue. > AEnima
> Spavin
> Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve just sold all my shares in
> Oh, my God! Folks, look at this! The south island of Japan has anything even remotely Japanese. I’d expect the
just gone up in smoke! Japanacorps to take something of a hammering with this.
> Armistice > Armistice
//Begin File Attachment// > Damn straight. Unzen is too far away from major industries to
NEWSNET SPECIAL NEWS BROADCAST do much, but Yokohama is a major industrial area, and there’s
27 October 2061 at 06:07:54 GMT [16:07:54 local] a lot of high value real estate at risk. Just sit back and watch
Live Near Sasebo, Japan Renraku’s share price go into free-fall.
Ladies and gentlemen, what you see behind me from the
> Denada
window of our NewsNet chopper is the immense smoke plume
which blasted from Unzen Volcano, as it erupted without warn-
ing no more than thirty minutes ago. The volcano, which cov- > It’s not just Japan that’s feeling the heat, it looks like the
whole Ring of Fire is buckling. CalFree, New Zealand, Indonesia;
ers much of Shimabara Peninsula, has erupted in several areas,
but the focus of the activity seems to be Fugendake, a moun- Momma Earth ain’t happy.
tain on the eastern part of the volcano. > Yael
It is totally impossible to see through the cloud of dust and
smoke to the nearby city of Shimabara, built at the base of the > Oh, no—I have family working in one of the Saotome aqua-
volcano, but it is assumed even at this early stage that the loss cologies in the Sea of Japan. I just tried placing a call and got
of life has been heavy. There are unconfirmed reports just com- a “no signal” error. Can anybody tell me anything?
ing to hand that there may have also been a tidal surge in the > Inari
bay. We have no idea of potential death tolls, but we do know
that the damage may range as far as the outlying areas of > Wow. Those are damn cool orbital visuals. Never would have
Nagasaki, almost 50 kilometers away. thought that a volcano would put out that much dust into the
The Japanese Imperial government has declared a state of atmosphere. You can barely see anything of the entire island. It
national emergency, suspending all air traffic into and out of looks like Yokohama has taken a pounding too; you can see
Kyushu Island. Suborbital lifts are being canceled nation-wide
the smoke from a couple of big fires.
due to upper-atmospheric dust, and severe restrictions are
being placed on all non-military air traffic throughout Japan. > Spavin
Seoul and Pusan International airports have similarly suspend-
ed all trans-atmospheric flights and are beginning to divert all > I’ve seen pictures of Mt. St. Helens when it went off last cen-
non-essential traffic. tury. If Unzen has done anything similar there really isn’t much
The eruption is continuing as we speak, and numerous small chance anyone near the volcano is alive, is there? How big
aftershocks are being registered up the eastern seaboard of— was Shimabara city? Just how many people has this killed?
Oh drek, what was that? > Ereskanti
Folks, we have just been buzzed by a Mitsuhama fighter
jet, demanding that we vacate the area immediately. The pilot > “Was,” he says—a firm grasp of the situation. The last census
has stated that he is acting with the full authority of the Imperial showed that Shimabara was home to about 180,000 people.
government, and is prepared to use force as necessary. At this Add the rest of the small towns around Ariake-kai—the bay—
stage we have no choice but to comply. Stay tuned folks, we’ll and you might tally as high as 300,000 people. The final death
be back with the hottest news as it comes to hand. toll will depend upon how big any tidal waves are, and how
This is Rolf Davidson, your man on the scene for NewsNet much damage Nagasaki and Yokohama suffered.
Special Broadcasts.
[Cut to real time orbital video from Shiawase Envirotech]
> Hastur-3
[Cut to ground camera montage]
//End File Attachment// > Hell, yes. Things are going to be a little chaotic in the near
future. All these quakes will cost the Japanacorps and the
government a pretty penny to fix or patch over, and it won’t
> Holy drek—the action’s not over yet, folks. They’ve just regis-
take long for the corporate sharks to sniff the blood and find
tered another 7.2 quake in Yokohama, and a seaquake some-
weak companies to snap up. From our perspective, this will

mean lots of employment, as long as you don’t mind your have closed ports on the island of Kyushu for safety reasons,
work hasty and brutal. prompting protests from the corporate community due to
> Findler-Man economic loss. Satellite pictures clearly show the extent and
intensity of the ash clouds as they are tugged east over the
[End Log] Pacific. The death toll in the Yokohama earthquake is rising
[Begin Log : Japan SIG : 29 October 2061 at 15:40:23 PST]
past 5,000, as fire crews have only just extinguished the last
of the industrial blazes. Over 900 people on the north coast
of Japan are still registered as “missing” due to a five-meter
> Here’s the latest. tsunami originating from the quake in the Sea of Japan.
> Armistice The Diet is currently meeting in a crisis assembly to
//Begin File Attachment// resolve the situation and develop relief plans. Shobo Kazama,
JAPANESE DIET CONVENES OVER CRISIS the Japanese Prime Minister, has also called for an official
Posted 10-29-61 investigation into the geological monitoring and risk man-
Washington (NN)—Imperial Japan remains in turmoil after agement of Unzen. Shiawase Envirotech, responsible for
Unzen Volcano’s catastrophic explosion, and the related landsat imaging and environmental monitoring intended to
earthquakes that happened late on Thursday afternoon, give early warning of such upheavals, has refused to make
local time. The erupting magma and ash fall has virtually any official public statement regarding the situation. Tensions
razed the city of Shimabara and the surrounding country- are high, and the Japanese government has demanded an
side, home to over a quarter of a million inhabitants. Nearby explanation of why their sophisticated billion-nuyen monitor-
towns have reported tsunami, rains of hot ash, huge rocks, ing system detected absolutely no sign of the incipient earth-
clouds of noxious gas and worse. Casualties have already quakes or eruption.
reached the tens of thousands, and the final death toll may As the sun goes down over a subdued, smoke-stained
be much higher. Even at this early stage, the PacRim Bank Tokyo, the nation is beginning the process of mourning all
has estimated the cost of the disaster to be in the range of those lost in the recent disasters.
tens of billions of nuyen. //End File Attachment//
Ash and pumice falls as far as Tokyo and Osaka are caus-
ing the continued cancellation of all suborbital flights and > Well, the Diet obviously made some fairly hefty decisions. The
latest buzz on the Japanese newsnets is that the Imperial
Marines have received orders to pull out of San Fran
and head home to help with the relief effort. The
announcement was apparently personally made by
IMPERIAL JAPAN’S GOVERNMENT the Emperor via a pre-recorded electronic broad-
cast.
Shadowland Japan SIG Help Topics >> Government Basics > Faedra
Emperor: The symbol of Japan and the unity of its people. A fig- > That’s strange. Nobody’s seen anything of His
urehead for the state, everything is done “in the Emperor’s name,” Imperial Majesty for close to a week, even before the
but he holds no actual political power. The Imperial Throne is dynas- eruption. Since then, he’s declined all interviews,
tic and descendant from father to son. public appointments and scheduled events, citing a
Diet: Composed of two Houses, the House of Representatives and need to “personally monitor the tragedy of Unzen
the House of Councilors, the Diet is the highest organ of state and to pray for the souls of the departed.”
power and the sole law-making organ of the state. Its members are > Mushin
all elected by the people. This is where the real power of the gov-
ernment lies, and many of the Diet’s members are in the pockets of > Well, if that order’s genuine, the Marines probably
corporations. won’t be back in a hurry. That’ll help make running in
Cabinet: Executive power resides within the Cabinet, which is CFS a little less stressful, and I’m guessing all the metas
led by the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the Emperor as in San Fran will be shedding lots of crocodile tears
directed by the Diet. The Prime Minister, in turn, appoints
about Unzen right about now.
Ministers of State to run various Ministries of the Cabinet. The
Diet can remove the entire membership of the Cabinet from power > Dexter
with a vote of no confidence.
Judiciary: The Supreme Court and lesser courts of the land. The > Yup. Less stressful, and probably much more fruitful
Chief Judge is appointed by the Emperor as directed by the in the long term. An open market is better for business,
Cabinet, and the rest of the Supreme Court is appointed by the especially one in flux.
Cabinet directly. > Roughcut

> I can confirm what Faedra reported. Their base near the har- > Has anyone noticed that there’s been a veritable epidemic
bor in San Fran is a hive of activity right now, and all troops of unexpected deaths amongst the extended Imperial Family
have been recalled from leave. It looks like at least two divi- in the week since the eruption? Everything from food poisoning
sions are rotating out. to accidental falls, helicopter accidents and random street vio-
> Tuskadero lence. Something like seventeen people all in all.
> Neon Flower
> Hmmm … are they taking all of their heavy ordnance with
them? I wonder if they’d miss any of it? > Utter nonsense. Japan doesn’t have random street violence.
> Kilroy > Mushin
> I’ve just checked up on what’s hot gossip in Asgard. > Precisely. I think something has happened to cause a huge
Apparently a similar thing is happening in the Japanese gar- power vacuum, and what you’re seeing are the side effects of
risons in the Philippines, Peru and in Northern Australia. Spirits people desperately scrambling to fill it. There’s lots of wheeling
alone know how much further they’re planning on pushing this, and dealing going on in the shadows of Japan right now. The
but right now the Japanese government is recalling every man police also are getting twitchy about the Yakuza for some rea-
they can spare. It must be making the Japanacorps in these son and the AAA’s seem to be eyeing each other again. About
areas just a bit twitchy to be losing their security blanket and the only thing keeping them at all civil is the swathe of destruc-
their big whacking stick all at once. tion caused by the disasters.
> Nils > Neon Flower
> Not to mention that it’s probably going to give the local > Ditto that. My team works out of the west coast of America,
rebels, pirates and other entrepreneurs all kinds of ideas. I reck- but even so we’ve recently received three offers from different
on it might be a good time to try a little “freelance arms trad- Johnsons who run ops for triple-A Japanacorps, all aimed at
ing” along the Pacific Rim. other Japanese corps. Things are getting hot in the shadows all
> Glaive over the world right now. As to what’s started it all, nobody
seems to know for sure.
[End Log]
> Pasquale
[Begin Log : Japan SIG : 4 November 2061 at 18:55:14 PST] [End Log]
> Check this—one of the Imperial officers in San Francisco is DEATH OF AN EMPEROR
refusing to pull out. Looks like the Japanacorps in San Fran got > Some of you may remember Naginata, the philanthropist
to this General Saito—whatever they offered him was enough responsible for the exposé on Shiawase a year or so ago. We
to make him betray his government. His soldiers are all on his had assumed he’d vanished into the Chiba shadows for good.
side, it looks like; more loyal to the General than to the Apparently not—he’s alive and well, and he’s got some good
Emperor. In any case, the corps will still have the military back- inside info. Apologies for the formal tone in places, we had to
ing to operate safely in San Fran, though Saito’s soldiers can’t run it through a translator. I’ve appended an interactive glos-
protect anywhere near as much of an area as before. sary to help us gaijin wade through the text.
> Argent > Captain Chaos
> Yeah, and Saito makes a great figurehead for the anti-
by Naginata
Imperial movement starting in the corps.
Good evening, everybody. I hope that this finds you in
> Discus good health. As you may know, the shadows of Japan have
been a very interesting and dangerous place to live for the past
> Well, Armistice was right. The share markets around the world two months. The eruption of Unzen Volcano has had an effect
have taken a pummeling since the eruption. Not surprisingly, far beyond that of simple physical destruction, and the ripples
the Japanacorps are putting a hold on their “venture projects” are still being felt around the world, much like a large rock
until they figure out exactly how much it’s going to cost to dropped into a small pond. Business in the shadows of Chiba
rebuild. You’re going to see a whole lot of research companies has been frantic as alliances form, mutate and dissolve seem-
being leveraged off or having their funding axed. That’ll make ingly overnight. For the present at least, it seems that the
them vulnerable. The translation: Black-ops galore. niceties of etiquette and politeness have been suspended.
> The Chromed Accountant There has indeed been a reason for this turmoil, and it
“It’s all about dollars and sense.” recently became public knowledge exactly why. I have
appended an article in explanation.

//Begin Newsfeed// > Naginata’s not drekking about the blood-letting either. Things
03 January 2062 have certainly changed since two months ago. I saw someone
… And in international news today, the Japanese govern- get cut in half with a monowhip at the front door to a downtown
ment has released a statement, belatedly confirming the death Kyoto nightclub on New Years Eve. The local doshin didn’t even
of Emperor Kenichi and most of his immediate family in the
blink—just hosed off the blood and took the body away. Anyone
eruption of Unzen Volcano, just over two months ago. The
would think this is the OK Corral, not Japan. It doesn’t help that
Emperor and his family were attending the re-dedication of a
the Japanacorps seem to be all too busy with their own agendas
Shinto shrine on one of their estates on the shore of Ariake-kai
near Shimabara city. They were presumably swept away by to help pacify the situation by wading in with their Fuzzy Pink
either a volcanic mudslide or the resulting tsunami. Samurai or their pocket ninja clans. It’s really open season at the
Prime Minister Kazama stated that Japan was deeply shak- moment.
en and saddened by their dual loss of friends and family and of > Just Johnny
their much-loved Emperor. He appealed for continued calm and
re-focused effort in the reconstruction of the area around Unzen. As of two days ago, Japan has a new Tenno Heika, and he
Kazama-san went on to state that Yasuhito, the 14-year-old is little more than a child. To make matters worse, Yasuhito’s
grandson of the Emperor and his sole surviving direct descen- lineage is tainted with impurity. He is officially an only child,
dent, would assume the Imperial throne in name in a corona- but there have been persistent rumors that he has a half-broth-
tion ceremony scheduled for the fifth of January. He said that the er and a sister that were born oni and were quietly consigned
long delay had been necessary to recover and bury the bodies to Yomi. It is for this reason that, despite the fact that Yasuhito
of the Emperor’s family with appropriate dignity and to ensure is human, he was never considered to be in line for the throne.
a smooth transition. Kazama-san also stated that a Sessho had
been chosen by the Imperial House Council, to act as Regent > It’s true, all right. I did some checking up on them, and both
until Yasuhito could truly of ’em died in Yomi a
take the throne upon turn- few years ago in a fire.
ing eighteen. The chosen GLOSSARY > Bearclaw
Sessho is Taro Yonekura,
one of the few members of Doshin Police officer > You moron, don’t tell
the Imperial Family still liv- Gaijin Foreigner me you believed that? I
ing and Yasuhito’s distant Kawaruhito Metahuman (literally “changed person”) was hired to extract the
cousin. Kuge Aristocrat of the Imperial court kids from Yomi (and
The Japanese financial Miko A Shinto magician (generally female) girl—that was way
markets have greeted this Oni Ork metatype variant found in Japan tough!). The fire was just
news with notable appre- Sessho Regent for an under-aged Emperor a cover-up so the
hension, dropping another Tenno Heika The Emperor (literally “Lord Son of Heaven”) Japanese would think
200 points to their lowest
they were dead.
mark in two years.
Mitsuhama Computer They’re safe and sound.
Technologies has regis- > Ice Queen
tered a formal protest with the government, stating that “with-
out an effective leader capable of gathering popular support, > If that’s true, expect even more chaos as every anti-
the nation will be hampered in its return to stability and pros- Japanese group tries to use them against their brother, assum-
perity.” Other corporations have declined to comment on the ing they can be found.
matter at this stage. > Argent
//End Newsfeed//
The power of the Emperor is mainly a symbolic one,
> No kidding. Yonekura’s one of the few Imperial Family members meaning that Yasuhito’s young age is not much of a problem.
left. They’ve been dropping like flies recently, and the only ones He is being represented by his cousin Yonekura, who performs
left besides Yasuhito are all at least one generation removed from the Emperor’s duties as his Sessho, but rumor says that
Yonekura just does what his young cousin tells him to.
truly being family members. They only belong to the Family
The Japanese place immense store in tradition and confor-
because one of their recent ancestors did and the Imperial
mity, and this choice of new Emperor represents a total rever-
Household never got around to taking the status away from them.
sal of the natural order of things. It is causing no end of con-
> Neon Flower sternation amongst the older Kuge. Many of them are refusing
to bow, even symbolically, to someone they consider tainted.
> There are also persistent rumors linking Yonekura to Yasuhito may not have time to grow into his title of Tenno
Yamatetsu. I’ve got a feeling that those rumors are the real rea- Heika, as his reign may be short and bloody—there have
son the megas are up in arms.
> Packer

already been some faint whisperings of regicide. tronically generated. It’s not easy to see; mainly trivial inconsis-
Whatever the case, there are many rumors and whispered tencies in reflections in the eyes. You have to wonder just how
half-stories circulating about Yasuhito. The major thing that much of the footage we see these days is real and not jig-
nobody is willing to discuss is the fact that he was apparently gered, don’t you?
with the Imperial family on the day > KrackR
that Unzen erupted. The Shinto Miko
in Kyushu are whispering that
> The eruption killed nearly everybody in
Yasuhito was discovered walking
Shimabara, and yet this boy was found
beside the shore line of Ariake-kai
walking unharmed in the ashes? How?
after the eruption, naked and dusty,
You can’t tell me that he just got lucky.
but otherwise totally unharmed.
Some of the Miko are even swearing Either he’s a powerful mage, which is
that they could see a faint aura of impossible at his age, or the story that he
some kind of indeterminable magic was at Unzen is nothing but PR white-
around him in astral space. Since then wash. There is no other explanation.
however, he has tested as totally > Idoru
mundane to all kinds of magical
probes intended to discover any > That’s rather narrow-minded of you.
latent magical talent. Whatever pro- There are more things in heaven and
tective magic it was that allowed him earth, Idoru, than are dreamt of in your
to survive the full force of a volcanic philosophy.
eruption has the best mages in Japan > Izanagi
baffled.
Perhaps the biggest mystery of
all is from exactly where his power
> That story is pretty much backed up
by some of the “research” I’ve found on
base and popular support have mate-
the Imperial host. To cut a long story
rialized. In a scant few days, he has
short, it appears that a Renraku black
consolidated the support of the
majority of the Shinto and Buddhist clinic near Beppu did a full physical and
priesthood and reputedly at least one magical exam on Yasuhito about
influential family. Large numbers of twelve hours after the mountain blew.
the younger and more ambitious They performed every kind of test
palace Kuge are also quietly forming known to man, but they found
new alliances and power blocs, per- absolutely nothing wrong with him. They
haps inspired by the possibility of did mention some unspecified “difficul-
quick advancement. The Imperial ty” with some of their procedures
Palace is certainly divided. though, whatever that means.
> Manticore
> That’s awfully quick, on all counts.
They go without an Emperor for two > One interesting point is that his support
whole months, and then they want to amongst the Shinto priesthood is by no
crown a mere child as replacement means unanimous, though they present
with two days notice … and other an outwardly unified front. There are
factions are already whispering some heated “philosophical debates”
about regicide loud enough for the happening in private right now.
world to hear? What gives? Talk > Kamiko
about unstable. Hey—didn’t the
Emperor make a trid statement a Yasuhito has certainly wasted no
couple of days after the eruption, time in gathering popular support in the
when it turns now out he was actual- Diet, and a surprising number of politi-
ly “dead?” I smell a big, skanky devil cians seem to be backing him. Yonekura
rat. spends much of his time with various
influential Diet members, presumably
> Defcon
making deals and building support for his cousin. With enough
Diet backing, Yasuhito could have the influence to push
> That’s the official story, yes. I’ve had another run over the
decrees through the legislature as law, becoming the first
footage with some specialized tools. It turned out to be elec-

Emperor to have actual power in over a century. > Well, the people he’s seen most with are: Yonekura (duh);
Of course, the Japanacorps are fighting back, using their Kiyoshi Hirai, an influential member of the House of
Diet influence to try to block this rise to power before it ever Representatives who is rumored to be in the pocket of the
truly starts. Unsurprisingly, Yamatetsu is using all of its influ- PacRim Bank; Shobo Kazama, the Prime Minister; an as-yet-
ence with the politicians to back the Sessho and his cousin. It’s unidentified woman introduced to him by Yonekura; and
looking more and more likely that those rumors about links to
Shidzue Ishimoto, a Miko and longtime friend of the Imperial
Yamatetsu were true.
family. If anyone is advising Yasuhito, it’s probably these folks—
The young Emperor’s Diet supporters have already begun
they all seem to support him, at least.
an initiative within the two Houses to open Japan as a free mar-
ket, lowering tariffs and trade restrictions on extranational > Kamiko
companies. The Japanese business community has reacted to
this with horror, and has marshaled its forces to block this > It’s got to be Yamatetsu. Hell, with them pulling the strings on
move and stop it cold. the Emperor, Japan is going to get awfully interesting.
Perhaps not unreasonably, Yasuhito also appears to hold a > Happyjan
personal vendetta against Shiawase Corporation for the death
of his family. He has demanded a personal explanation and > I wouldn’t be so sure. It could just as easily be the Yakuza,
apology both to him and to the people of Japan from Tadashi Ryumyo, or any number of other contenders. One thing is for
Shiawase regarding the absolute failure of their geological sure; I wouldn’t want to be Yasuhito. His life expectancy has got
monitoring system, which has thus-far been ignored. Popular to be measured in days.
opinion supports the Emperor in this matter, however, and may > Spellbinder
force Shiawase’s hand.
Yonekura has been working with Diet members to prepare
> You’d be surprised. Whispered talk says that there has already
an initiative to relax the official laws for both immigration and
been one attempt on his life. I understand that somebody tried
codifying discrimination against kawaruhito. It will likely be a
to kill him with magic just before his coronation. Apparently the
while before that initiative is introduced, as he lacks the sup-
magician in question died rather horribly—autopsy was some-
port necessary for such a massive change. At the same time,
Yasuhito has requested in a national address that the people of thing of a moot point.
Japan work to put an end to discrimination. > Debear
His most recent, and perhaps his most symbolically
important action, has been to quietly reclaim his mantle of RIDING THE TIGER
divinity, which the Imperial family was forced to abdicate after [Begin Log : Japan SIG : 11 March 2062 at 05:20:47 PST]
World War II, more than a century ago. Rather surprisingly, the
Shinto priesthood immediately affirmed his divine status. In
> So what’s the story in Japan right now, folks?
practical terms it means little, but it is however a potent signal > Muchacho
to the rest of the world of his desire to lead, and to overturn
whatever conventions he sees as pointless or restrictive. > Where to start? As far as I know Shiawase is back in the
Emperor’s good graces, though how they managed that, I
> My God, all this in two days?!? This is all slightly too surreal for me. don’t know.
> Spazz > Maxus
> I think I see something of his strategy—by pushing change > Deceptively easily, actually. Tadashi Shiawase has betrothed
after change at the people who oppose him, he keeps them his daughter Hitomi to the Emperor, to be consummated on the
too far off-balance to effect a serious counterattack. Tactically day after his sixteenth birthday. I’m not sure who had the lever-
brilliant. I must wonder where he learned such capacity for age in that bargain, but apparently Hitomi is not happy about
intrigue, and who is tutoring him. the arrangement, not leastwise due to the fact that she is
> Sun Tzu II almost six years older than Yasuhito. I doubt that Tadashi really
cares all that much—for the political advantage of having an
> He’s not going to change Japan overnight, though. He can Empress in the family, I think he would have given his daughter
push whatever laws he wants through the Diet, but excising the to the Universal Brotherhood.
racism and xenophobia will take centuries. > Neon Flower
> Satchmo
> So, Shiawase’s buddying up to the Imperial family. That must
> I’d give my right arm to know who it is with their arm up make the rest of the corps in Japan something less than joy-
Yasuhito’s back, using him as a puppet. ously happy.
> Darien > Dark Father

> Possibly, but the rest of the corps probably don’t want to be sledgehammer to keep the corps in line. I doubt Yasuhito will be
too close to the Emperor in case he burns out and detonates in much of a hurry to send them too far from home until he’s got
spectacularly—he is unpredictable to say the least. Shiawase his own political situation a bit more in line.
has well and truly got the tiger by the tail now; they’re going to > Dark Father
have to hang on while he takes them for a ride. Spirits alone
know why they made such an uncharacteristically bold deci- > To a casual observer it may appear that Yasuhito is making a
sion. lot of waves for no good reason. There has, however, been one
> Disconnected common agenda in all of his actions—to keep his enemies off-
balance and distracted, while he transforms the role of
> To add insult to injury, Yonekura has just recruited several oni Emperor from a purely symbolic role to one with real teeth in
to fill out the traditional Imperial guard. This has come as a the Diet. Japan will be interesting to watch over the next few
huge shock for the pampered nobility; most of them would years.
never have even seen a kawaruhito until Yonekura shoved > Sun Tzu II
them so blatantly in their face. It has been very interesting
watching some of the Kuge do everything possible to avoid > How many fourteen-year-old boys would be capable of this?
even acknowledging their existence. This can be a difficult There has to be somebody advising him and pulling his strings. I
proposition when there’s two meters of oni blocking your way can’t believe that he hasn’t been deposed or simply killed by
into the throne room, wearing traditional Samurai armor and now. Who is it that wants him in power?
holding a drawn katana. > Defcon
> Neko
> Well, you can’t just depose him. The Japanese people are
> Economically, if not socially, Japan is at least settling down paying too much attention to the ongoing drama for that.
and getting back on track. The share market is edging back They need at least a sham of constitutional monarchy. As for
over the mark it was at when Unzen blew, and the corps are killing him, they’ve tried that—repeatedly. I think that the tally
starting to look further afield than domestic politics. Obviously so far is two shootings, three poisonings, one bomb, two
the playing field has shifted dramatically in the past year. attempted magical assassinations and an “accidental fall”
There’s now an open rebellion in the Philippines and San from a four-story building, almost all by professional assassins.
Francisco is no longer wholly under their control. It will be inter- So far, he has inexplicably escaped them all utterly
esting to see what they make of this brave new world. unharmed, despite any collateral damage. It’s no wonder
> Ainu that his apparent divinity is slowly becoming more accepted.
What do you do with a divine Emperor you can’t get rid of,
> The Imperial Marines are tooling up again as well. They’re no except accommodate him?
longer really needed on disaster relief. The corporations have > Izanagi
been petitioning the government to redeploy them to their old
bases to secure their territorial interests, but the Emperor has so > According to my sources, the bomb and one shooting can
far used his new influence to block those requests. actually be linked to Yasuhito himself, through several layers of
> Mushin deception, of course. I think he was setting things up to make
himself look divine, and all the real attempts were just icing on
> Yeah, now they’ve been ordered to help rebuild Japan. Most the cake. That still doesn’t explain how he keeps surviving,
of the Army troops provide security around still-dangerous or though.
unstable areas to keep citizens from wandering in, while the > Silverback
engineering corps builds bridges, reconstructs dams, and gen-
erally helps put the nation back together. The Navy and Marines > Well folks, the end result of all of this is that the “old” Japan is
are performing salvage missions all around the islands, as well as disappearing like mist. Things are changing at a bewildering
search-and-rescue stuff. The Air Force is helping to determine rate. For us shadowrunners this will mean lots of opportunity,
the exact extent of the damage from above, and performing whether or not you’re Japanese—or even human. The other
fire-fighting duties where needed from the air. All in all, I’d say megacorps will be looking to open up niche markets in the
they’re being more useful than they ever have before. land of the Rising Sun, and it’s going to be hard-fought all the
> Snowblind way. They’re going to need lots of people to do their dirty work.
Not to mention all of the fur that will fly as the corps and the
> Remember that the military owes personal loyalty to the Emperor fight for voting control in the Diet. The word on the
Emperor, and that bushido is something they take very serious- streets is that Japan is beautiful this time of year.
ly indeed. He is also keeping them at home to use as a big > Neon Flower

CALIFORNIA UBER ALLES
his one comes to us hot off the presses, chummers. With all the fallout from the appear-
T ance of SURGE, shedim zombie attacks, dragon rampages and Japan-shaking natural dis-
asters, many of us completely missed the withdrawal of Japanese Imperial troops from the
city of San Francisco, as well as the Philippines, Australia and Peru. Naturally, the Bay Area
Japanacorps were not pleased to see their private army waltz off to the homeland, leaving
their city wide open to the kawaruhito wolves. Lucky for them, they seem to have found a
renegade Imperial officer to take care of matters.
With all of the miles of cutting-edge research sitting right in Silicon Valley campuses, you
can bet Damien Knight was paying attention to the situation. Never being one to let others
gnaw away at his corporate empire, Knight has planted a sizable obstacle between the rene-
gade Imperial troops and the Valley—though Ares seems to care less what happens to the rest
of the CalFree State. Naturally, Knight’s soldiers have the best intel on the San Francisco scene—
and such data just happens to have found its way into my inbox. Commenting is on, so please
add any relevant data you have to this posting. We need more angles than just Ares’ on this.
> Captain Chaos
Transmitted: 27 November 2061 at 12:02:38 (PST)
CHAOS IN SAN FRANCISCO

Situational Evaluation for Tactical Operations
Ares Macrotechnology
Lt. Col. L. Ritter
22 November 2061
As I’m sure all the parties receiving this evaluation are aware, all hell has broken loose in
San Francisco. This evaluation exists to give you a greater idea of the depth of this hell. Three
major factors have contributed to this situation. The first was the earthquake that struck the Bay
Area on October 27. San Francisco itself has long been designed to withstand earthquakes and
came out of it mostly unharmed. The majority of the damage was suffered in the less protect-
ed Berkeley/Oakland sprawl east of the bay. The second factor was the much more devastat-
ing earthquake and volcanic eruption that struck Japan on the same date. This crisis led to a
recall of all Imperial Japanese troops by Japan’s Diet, in the Emperor’s name. Rather than aid-

ing in the repair and restoration of the Bay area, the Japanese > What’s this about Ares’ plan to “reposition corporate assets?”
Imperial State ordered a full withdrawal of military assets from Can someone cut through the corp-speak on this one for me?
the San Francisco Bay area. Ares Macrotechnology was imme-
> Crash Test Dummy
diately aware of this order and made plans to reposition corpo-
rate assets to maximize our response to this situation. However,
the third factor—the bloodless coup led by Colonel Keiji Saito—
> Since I’m not an Ares executive, I can’t be sure on this one,
but I’m willing to bet my last nuyen that Ares was planning on
took even Ares HQ by surprise. Saito has refused to withdraw
moving Knight Errant forces into San Francisco when the
the forces now under his command, in open defiance to the
Emperor’s orders. Japanese left. Why? Because San Francisco is the single most
important foothold for Japanese corporations in North
> I don’t think Saito’s coup was as bloodless as Ares thinks. The America. By putting Ares security on the street under the guise
way I heard it went down, about half of the Imperial Marines of “riot control” (an excuse that worked great for them after
had already moved out, including all the top brass. Saito was Dunkelzahn’s assassination), they could effectively put the
left behind to bring up the rear. When he issued the order to squeeze on the Japanacorps. Keep in mind that San Francisco
halt, chaos reigned for a few hours. Someone in Japan gave was hit by the tail end of a series of earthquakes that shook the
the order to have Saito arrested, but the I-Marines that tried entire spine of California. Though San Francisco was hardly
were gunned down. Most of the troops that remained were damaged compared to Los Angeles, if all of the Japanese
loyal to Saito, but he allegedly gave those that weren’t the troops had pulled out, that city would have been a powder
opportunity to leave—sadly, the first ship out sunk like a bowling keg just waiting to explode. If Knight Errant were the only thing
ball, all hands lost. No one else left after that. I also heard that sitting between the Japanacorps and rioting mobs, they’d be
Mitsuhama troops and drones helped to secure certain facili- in a great position to call in favors.
ties until Saito’s dictatorship was solidified. And, of course, no > The Wyrm Ouroborous
one’s seen the old Imperial Governor, Shiro Kawanaga, since
Saito seized power (though rumors persist that he’s in hiding, > That theory makes a lot more sense when you consider that
craftily eluding a massive manhunt). Lieutenant Colonel Ritter arrived in Silicon Valley at the end of
> Wallfly October, well before Saito took control of San Francisco. Ares
definitely had something up their sleeve before they were
forced to bring in the troops in November.
> Demonseed Elite
EARTHQUAKES, VOLCANOES > Who is this Ritter guy anyway? He must be pretty
important if he’s writing up this evaluation, I’d think.
SHAKE PACIFIC RIM > Selkie
Posted 10-27-61
ented seismic activity shook the
Seattle (IIN)—A series of unpreced > I’ll tell you this: Ritter’s good at burying his skeletons—
anic eruptions and tidal waves
world today, setting off earthquakes, volc
d of Kyu shu, Japan was hit the hard- luckily I’m better at digging them up. Lloyd Ritter is a long-
around the Pacific Rim. The islan
ing the city of Shimabara and time Ares operative who comes from a long-time Ares
est as the Enzu Volcano erupted, bury
also devastated the area, causing family. Prime company-man material. He holds the well-
coating the nation in ash. Tidal waves
claim ing untold lives. deserved rank of Lieutenant Colonel after serving in
millions of nuyen in damages and
also been struc k, though reports are still fil- many successful and grueling campaigns for Ares,
Other areas have
New Zealand erupted, spewing including a string of operations as a worldwide Ares bug-
tering in. The Ngauruhoe volcano in
series of uncontrolled blazes.
hot ash and cinders and starting a hunter after the Chicago incident. This guy led the
erup ted, cove ring large segments of Iwo charge that shut down a sizeable hive in Istanbul.
Mount Suribachi has also
island. Debris was spewed by
Jima and forcing an evacuation of the Currently he’s the man in charge of one of the Knight
Islands, smashing cars, crush-
several volcanic vents in the Aleutian Errant battalions stationed in the Silicon Valley, specifical-
Tida l wav es and volcanic explosions
ing houses and injuring 14. ly the Signals Intelligence and Recon battalion—which is
of Indonesian coastline, thou-
have stripped away whole segments why he’s responsible for gathering this intelligence for
. At least six volcanoes have
sands are missing and believed dead Ares HQ.
of hot ash and debris. An earth-
enveloped the Philippines in a haze > Marley
ing structural damage in San
quake rattled the Bay Area, caus
s of Berkeley and Oakland. The
Francisco and devastating some area > Ritter has also run the shadows by the name of Grey
in Aztlan has scoured the coun-
Santa Maria Quezaltenango volcano
fumes emitted near Concepción Knight. And he also has the Talent.
tryside with waves of lava, and toxic
> Grim Faerie
have claimed over 50 victims.
> And here I thought you didn’t kiss and tell.
> Grey Knight
Colonel Saito is now Protectorate General Saito—a pro- > Obviously Ares didn’t know about the child Emperor at the
motion he gave himself—and single-handedly controls the two time of this. Those partisan factions back Saito in the hopes that
divisions of AWOL Japanese Imperial Marine forces stationed in they can use him to usurp Yasuhito in the future.
San Francisco. General Saito’s military history in Peru, the
Philippines and finally San Francisco shows him as a capable
> Ginsu
soldier and tough leader. He comes from a long line of
Japanese soldiers, and in fact the Saito family name originates > “Elements within international human supremacist organiza-
tions.” Let me dispense with the suit-and-soldier speak here.
with one of the ancient Japanese samurai families. As a military
General Saito is in bed with the Human Nation. He is finally giv-
commander, he is definitely not to be underestimated. He
understands his troops and they are loyal to him for it, a qual- ing them the opportunity they’ve been waiting for, a chance at
ity that Imperial Governor Kawanaga lacked. In addition, he is an actual eugenic nation built for pure humanity. They’ve
also a focused tactician and strategist, as has been proven by organized support from their rich and powerful cronies all over
his skilled deployment of troops since the coup. the globe to make sure no one makes any hasty moves
towards toppling Saito’s protectorate.
> Okay, let’s play the Who’s Who game again. Colonel, oops, I > Anonymous
mean General Saito is everything Ritter said he is. He was cer-
tainly not the most diplomatic soldier in the Japanese Imperial > We have officially entered the realm of paranoid conspiracy.
Marines, a trait that kept him from ever earning a spot as an > Critic
Imperial General until he decided to take it into his own hands.
He is strict and gruff, a member of the old hard-liner school of > The Human Nation backing goes a long way towards explain-
Japanese soldier that has been sustained since World War II and ing why the California government in Sacramento is capitulat-
makes up the strong backbone of the Imperial military. He is a ing with Saito’s regime. The heavily armed Japanese marines
man of decisive action, extreme measures and strong results, sitting right inside the capital city finishes off the explanation.
which goes a long way to explain why Ares is stationing a mili- > Eponine
tary presence on the border of Silicon Valley.
> Marley > Capitulating? The puppets in the government didn’t even
bat an eye at this whole affair until Saito’s troops were march-
> Saito also served a stint as military commander of Yomi ing right into Sacramento. And by then, it was too late.
Island—where Japan exiles all of their metahumans. Like most > Local Yokel
Yomi commanders, he treated the metahumans there like
insects and had no qualms executing troublemakers or letting > Actually, the government is doing what it can to buck Saito’s
hundreds die of malnutrition or malaria. orders, but it doesn’t have much breathing room. I’m not paint-
> Krathis ing them out to be saints—because they aren’t—but they aren’t
big fans of Saito’s troops walking around in their city. They can’t
General Saito’s actions since his rise to power can be clas- do much, but they have years of practice with the talent of smil-
sified as aggressive and therefore encourage a strong Ares mil- ing and nodding while sneaking someone in around your back.
itary presence in the Silicon Valley area. They are also political- > Arnold
ly motivated, as Saito himself has verbalized an anti-metahu-
man and intensely patriotic agenda, very much in line with the
> Human Nation? Useless government puppets? The metahu-
Japanese Empire’s “Yamato Spirit”—the belief in the superiori- mans of the California can’t be taking this whole thing lying
ty of a pure Japanese people. While usually an AWOL force
down! Now is their time to fight back—1.5 MP Deleted by
would run dry on supplies quickly and therefore lose steam,
SysOp.
our intelligence indicates that Saito is being funded and sup-
ported by the corporations that comprise the San Francisco > Mad Hatter
Corporate Council: Mitsuhama Computer Technologies,
Renraku Computer Systems, Shiawase Corporation, PacRim > You know the rules—keep the recruiting drives to the appro-
Bank and the Financial Services Corporation. priate SIGs.
Our intelligence also indicates that Saito is receiving back- > Captain Chaos
ing from elements within international human supremacist “I am everywhere!”
organizations as well as partisan factions within the Japanese
government. The corporations clearly back him to maintain With an inexhaustible supply line and high troop morale,
power within the region, while the human supremacist organi- General Saito has aggressively expanded his control over this
zations view Saito as a way to gain power and numbers. The region of California, securing the Bay Area and sending forces
partisan factions are believed to be motivated in opposition to as far as Sacramento. Saito’s obvious intention here, in addition
the Emperor’s policies. to having easy access to the anti-metahuman groups of the
region, was to capture the three large air force bases in the
area. McClellan in Sacramento was the most valuable capture

for Saito’s forces, but he also struck Beale Air Force Base in a sound launching point for covert operations against General
Marysville and Travis in Fairfield. Only the forces under the Saito. Unstable elements within Saito’s own territory supply us
combined command of General Torres and myself have pre- with allies and covers. On the eastern side of the San Francisco
vented Saito from expanding southward. Bay, specifically within Berkeley and Oakland, a skilled rebel-
If General Saito were to concentrate his attacks on our lion operates against Saito’s forces. The rebellion is made pri-
Silicon Valley line, we would be at a distinct tactical disadvan- marily of metahumans and metahuman sympathizers whose
tage and more than likely would lose any prolonged engage- ranks have swollen since the appearance of SURGE. Though
ment. When it comes down to numbers, Saito’s forces out- limited in resources and reach, they have been quite effective
number ours ten to one, even though he only retained half of within the Berkeley/Oakland sprawl and they provide cover
the Imperial troops that had been stationed in San Francisco. for the insertion of our shadow operatives into General Saito’s
With his capture of three of the region’s air force bases, Saito Protectorate.
will soon enjoy vast air superiority over our forces. With our
request for further reinforcements rejected, we are blessed in > Hrmf. Now that the Metahuman People’s Army has proof that
that General Saito has concentrated his expansion eastward Ares is using infiltrators to maneuver their own operatives, they’ll
and has had to quell partisan revolutionaries in areas he already clamp down on that angle.
controls. His forces have tested ours in small border skirmish- > Slingshot
es, but he has not committed any sizeable force against us and
is not likely to as long as he continues into the Central Valley. Part of General Saito’s military campaign has included
It is quite possible that the Japanese megacorporations, having destroying criminal elements within his Protectorate, which has
lost the element of surprise against us, fear Ares accusations threatened our ability to use the San Francisco underworld as a
against them in the Corporate Court if they were to attack cover for covert operations. After further investigation, Saito’s
Silicon Valley now. claims to be cleaning up crime are only a surface facade; in
reality he has simply been assisting the Yakuza in destroying
> If those ten-to-one calculations are correct, judging by the their competition. Thanks to this military aid, the San Francisco
troop sizes of Saito’s two divisions, that means that Ares is sport- Yakuza have nearly wiped out the Worczek Mafia family.
ing a force of about twenty-five hundred troops. Isn’t that pret- However, our intelligence has discovered that the Chinese
ty large for a corporate military presence? Triads are still operating strong within the Berkeley/Oakland
sprawl, working hand-in-hand with the revolutionary forces.
> Static
The Triads have secured their survival by supplying weapons
and intelligence to the revolutionary forces and have proven
> Yes, it is very large, but keep in mind that this is Ares we are talk- willing to work with our operatives in exchange for military
ing about. A good portion of the Ares troops are actually Knight-
hardware. This has ensured our reach into at least one entry
Errant “security” detachments armed with milspec gear supplied
point within the shadows of Saito’s territory.
to them by Ares Arms. Ritter himself is leading an intelligence and However, with the growing pressure upon the revolution-
recon battalion consisting of about five hundred troops. The ary forces and the security on the Bay Bridge, we have secured
other troops fall under the umbrella command of General Frank an alternate entry point by using our links with the pirates of
Torres, and are made up of two armor and two mechanized the Big Sur. By supplying these pirates, we have encouraged
infantry battalions. These guard the border between Saito’s them to move northwards to take advantage of the situation in
forces and Silicon Valley, specifically concentrating on the high- San Francisco. We support them whenever possible and in
way routes that enter the Valley from the north. exchange they have given us the ability to sneak past Saito’s
> Stillman small naval presence and land covert operatives right onto the
docks of San Francisco. This entry route is more valuable to us,
> The Ares forces are well trained and well equipped, but they are but we are using it more sparingly to prevent the pirates from
definitely only playing a defensive game here, at least outside the attracting too much attention from General Saito. Combined,
shadows. They don’t have the firepower to challenge Saito offen- these two links have allowed us to run successful covert cam-
paigns into Saito’s Protectorate. Further reports will be gener-
sively, especially since their request for reinforcements was denied.
ated to evaluate our impact upon his regime.
Damien Knight tried to convince the UCAS government that send-
ing peacekeeping forces into California was in their best interests,
but with all the chaos coming down this year, the UCAS flatly
> What links to the pirates is Ritter talking about? Since when has
Ares had allies within the Big Sur pirates? And since when have
refused. Knight appealed to the idea of Californian Reunification,
any of the Big Sur pirates operated so far north as San Francisco?
but in reality all he wanted was access to all the Japanese cor-
porate assets locked up behind Saito’s troops.
> Wipeout
> Raygun > Grania O’Malley’s pirates have been operating in San
Tactically, an offensive military campaign of any sort Francisco of late, but only since Saito’s forces have taken over.
against General Saito’s forces is absolutely out of the question. Before the Japanese pulled the majority of their naval assets out
Our well-fortified position in Silicon Valley, however, gives us of the area, it was just too dangerous for the pirates to make a
living there. But now there are plenty of opportunities for a skilled

pirate like O’Malley. There are shipments that need smuggling the metahuman population there; the faces of a people fight-
and rogue Imperial naval vessels that need plundering. Life is ing for their own right to existence in their home. The third is a
good for the pirate queen. barrage of pro-metahuman, anti-Saito, anti-Japanese graffiti—
> Reality Czech from scrawled slogans to full-wall mural pieces. The fourth is a vir-
tual snowfall of white pamphlets distributed haphazardly
> Lucrative biz isn’t the only reason why O’Malley is up there. through the city by the Metahuman People’s Army, pamphlets
Y’know those links that were mentioned? You can thank Arthur that carry a message of revolution. In the interests of all of you
Vogel for that. You may have forgotten about the dwarf in Ares’ throughout the world who might be sympathetic to their plight,
boardroom, but that dwarf has been just as busy as Knight I’ve decided to transcribe one of these pamphlets onto
securing power in California. After all, the majority of Vogel’s Shadowland. Make of it what you will.
ecoterrorist buddies are centered near the Big Sur, which > Captain Chaos
extends Ares’ reach in this area considerably—a reach that Transmitted: 29 November 2061 at 04:35:12 (PST)
extends all the way to O’Malley’s pirate empire, since O’Malley
Open your eyes! Look around you! It can’t be denied that
has been linked to pro-green policlubs since her youth.
we are at war. A war for our very lives. Ever since the Japanese
> Hazeldean Marines arrived in 2036, metahumanity has been persecuted;
enslaved by their Cultural Protection Laws and rejected by their
> Total bulldrek. O’Malley’s no more a part of any environmen- people. For decades we have lived a second-class life, spit on
tal movement than the agricorps. She’s just out to make a buck. and beaten by those who think they are better than we are
> Skeptic because they don’t have pointed ears, tusks, or horns. Peaceful
solutions were attempted to give voice to our cause, our cause
> Think about it. What other links could Ritter be talking about? of equality between the races of humanity and metahumanity.
Vogel’s links to O’Malley through his eco-action friends make No progress was ever made, and in the meantime thousands
perfect sense. It’s all one happy family. of metahumans paid with their freedom and their lives.
> Green Machine Now our plight has only gone from bad to worse. The rogue
Japanese soldier Keiji Saito, one of the overseers who has denied
> There’s another wildcard in this whole situation that Ritter forgot us our rightful existence for decades, has claimed San Francisco
to mention: the California Rangers. At the moment these guys as his own empire. An empire built upon hate and murder, an
are hardly a blip on anyone’s radar, but I’d keep an eye on empire built upon the corpses of metahumans. The General’s
them. The mess in California has them splitting six ways to
own words resonate with his bloodlust, his desire to destroy our
lives. The following is translated from the speech General Saito
Sunday, and they could tilt the game in favor of any side. Saito
delivered after he overthrew the Imperial Governor:
has closed down the Rangers’ Sacramento and Berkeley head-
quarters and has secured the major highways running through
“We will not retreat with our tail between our legs. We will
the protectorate. This has led more than a few of the local not crawl home to a shattered island and a honorless emperor.
rangers to join up with some unlikely allies—namely the smug- We will not allow the greatness of the Japanese Empire to crum-
glers and pirates. However, the rest are still listening to the word ble and be destroyed. I, General Keiji Saito, will not allow it. Until
from Sacramento, and are staying out of the mess with General the time comes when the Emperor wakes from his confused
Saito. daze and realizes his errors in judgment, we shall hold down San
> Panzer Man Francisco as a Protectorate of Japan. It is our station in life to keep
San Francisco out of the hands of criminal metahuman mobs.
> The Rangers are an independent lot—don’t write off the ones Their wickedness is a perversion of all that the Japanese Empire
sticking to policy as useless. In fact, Ares has been in dealings stands for, an insult to the Yamato Spirit that binds us together.
with some of the Rangers, exchanging mil-spec gear for a local They may send the rest of the world to hell, but the diseased and
and skilled mobile fighting force. I’d go so far as to say that wretched metahumans will not take San Francisco with them.”
maybe the Sacramento puppets are encouraging this; the more
fighting going on, the less anyone can clamp down on them > C’mon, Keiji, tell us how you really feel.
and the more opportunity they have to switch to whatever side > Bung
is on top.
> Ranger Rick > If Saito is so rabidly anti-metahuman, Tir Tairngire must drive
him nuts. A whole nation ruled by metahumans, not too far to
THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM! his north.
> If you were to walk the streets of the Berkeley/Oakland sprawl > Pablo
right now, there are four things you would not be able to miss.
The first is the damage from the earthquake; wide cracks run- > Maybe this expansion of his includes a plan to invade the Tir?
ning through the middle of the streets and buildings leaning on > Outtatown
broken foundations. The second is the angry looks in the eyes of

> Ha Ha! If the market for shadowrunners ever stalls, maybe you I’ve seen them dropping off truckloads of metahumans behind
should try for stand-up comedy. Do you honestly think that the razorwire fences.
Saito’s ragtag army of traitors could possibly take on the full mil- > Widow
itary of the Tir? You must be cracked.
> Tears-of-a-Clown > Life isn’t easy even for the metahumans not shipped to the
ghettoes yet. Saito hasn’t had the resources to clean out the
> This is no laughing matter. While the General’s forces could Berkeley/Oakland sprawl, but even there metahumans are spit
not possibly survive a full invasion into Tir Tairngire, his popularity on and insulted from day to day. Most humans will not even
is growing and his ranks are only likely to swell as he takes more acknowledge a meta there for fear of being labeled a sympa-
of the Central Valley. He is building a military industry of hate in thizer and suffering the same fate. The MPA is trying hard to
California, hate directed at a people. Another man once did recruit, but it is as if the souls of most of the metahumans there
the same thing. His name was Hitler. have been sucked dry by fear.
> Blake > Local Yokel
Saito’s jackbooted thugs control the land from San > Help is coming though. The Metahuman People’s Army has
Francisco to Sacramento and his hateful taint reaches even far- been using the online People’s University to spread the word of
ther. Throughout the Bay Area and the Central Valley, metahu- the metahuman plight in California. It’s starting to attract atten-
mans are arrested for the crime of their identity and are tion in the shadows.
shipped to metahuman ghettoes that lie outside the cities of > Eye Spy
San Francisco and Sacramento. There, Saito’s guards kill with
impunity, burying metahumans in mass graves bearing no
> But will it be too late by the time anyone acts?
names of the victimized.
We can not stand and take this any longer. We must fight
> Question Mark
back to preserve what lives we have left. We must take the FALLEN IS THE CITY OF ANGELS
fight to Saito in any way we can and show him that metahu-
manity will not just roll over and die. The Metahuman People’s
> Don’t fool yourselves, chummers. Southern California was hit as
hard as Northern Cal-not-so-Free during the recent months of
Army will lead the fight. We will strike with precision and skill,
chaos. Los Angeles, home of the Hollywood “Dream Industry” has
our hearts burning with pride for who we are. All those who
are willing to fight for a better tomorrow, all those who are become the focal point of a political firestorm worthy of a big-
willing to suffer so that our children will know a better world, budget sim-epic. I sought out a friend of mine down in L.A. to give
spread the word of the Metahuman People’s Army. Raise the us the scoop on what is going on. Take it with a grain or two of
cry, join our ranks, and fight for your freedom! salt, he’s a bit dramatic. But then again, who isn’t down in
Tinseltown?
> I’m usually pretty skeptical of propaganda pamphlets, so can > Captain Chaos
someone give me the straight story? Are there really metahu- Transmitted: 20 December 2061 at 23:10:58 (PST)
man internment camps being built in the Central Valley?
“After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven.
> Architect He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his
splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: “Fallen! Fallen is
> I’m in Sacramento now, and I’ve never been more relieved Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a
to be human. Saito’s troops walked right over the Californian haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and
troops guarding Sacramento. Of course, the CalFree grunts detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening
have been under-trained, under-equipped and pretty much wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adul-
out of fuel for years now due to budget cuts (read: politicians tery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her
skimming the funds). Even worse, the troops suffered occasion- excessive luxuries.”
al home-brewed terrorist attacks from racist locals—locals who —Revelations 18:1-3
now want to see Saito’s regime clean up the metahumans
once and for all. Saito’s troops have most of the Sacramento by Star-Struck
government under house arrest and they have been going
Babylon is indeed fallen, and it’s hard to imagine these
days that Revelations wasn’t speaking about Los Angeles. The
door to door to arrest metahumans. But I haven’t seen any
past month brought the City of Angels to its knees, age-old
internment camps here in the city.
fault-lines (both political and geological) finally exploding with
> Lefty devastating force. We should have heard the warnings, but
instead we dealt with the rumblings the same way Los Angeles
> Look west of the Brannan Island State Recreational Area. always deals with problems—by sticking our heads in the sand
There are at least two freshly built metahuman ghettoes there. and throwing endless parties.

> That’s for sure. Look at El Infierno. Instead of solving a fester- of California ever done for us? Why should we care? Party on.
ing social problem, the rich folks just walled it up and turned up Soon after, our sins were repaid. Los Angelenos had
their party music, hoping it would go away if they ignored it. ignored the tremors that rumbled under Los Angeles since
October, passing them off as minor temblors and no need for
> Sick Haxx concern. Then, on December 2nd, an earthquake that rated 8.5
on the Richter scale tore through Los Angeles. It was the most
> That came back and bit them in the hoop, huh? violent in Californian history, smiting us for our sins of pride
> Lemon and our lifestyles of indulgence. Buildings came crashing down
As the comet came closer to Earth, the end-of-the-world and thousands were killed. The earthquake didn’t care if you
parties got crazier. Determined to outdo the past feverish manias were rich or poor, human or metahuman. It killed indiscrimi-
that always came with Halley’s Comet, Los Angeles turned on nately, bringing our own mansions and studios down around
the hype machines and rolled out the red carpet. Comet parties us.
were the latest big thing, with each sim-star trying to top the Worse yet, it brought down the walls that we had built to
next with outlandish and totally indulgent entertainment. Nuyen ignore our own problems. We were forced to look upon those
flowed like water at these Bacchanalian events, while families we had ignored for so long—and then the true harrowing
perished from hunger just over the wall in the slums. began. The poor and ignored flooded over the crumbled walls
We deserved a reckoning just for our callousness and pride. and into the sculptured gardens of Studio City and Fun City. Like
But the world wasn’t done sending us warnings, and Los Angeles starving wolves they ran wild through the metroplex, looting,
wasn’t done ignoring them. SURGE hit us right at the apex of the stealing and killing. Taking what had been taken from them.
comet parties, when the entire wealthy half of the city was living
one long celebration for the arrival of the heavenly messenger. > As over-dramatic as he sounds, Star-Struck is not too far from
SURGE slammed the “beautiful people” of Los Angeles, a slap in the truth. It was hell on earth. The wealthy locked themselves
the face to the sim-star system that had been the status quo here. up in their mansions, praying that the roving gangs of looters
In a matter of days, careers were ruined and new stars were born. would skip over their home. Corporate security forces stood
Winona Flying Horse sprouted horns and claws (making some old firm and defended their studios, firing without hesitation upon
jokes at her expense ironically come true) and locked herself rioters and even peaceful locals. Injured victims of the earth-
away in her Studio City palace, her career over as a simsense star- quake slowly died under suffocating rubble, because emer-
let. A few nobodies ran the wave of SURGE, capitalizing on the gency vehicles were being held up or lit on fire. Final death toll:
shock value of their sudden mutations. Clarisa Rogers, a former over 10,000.
hairdresser and UCLA student, suddenly scored a three-picture > Demonseed Elite
contract with Amalgamated Studios when her skin, hair and eyes
turned a deep black and made her into a true vixen of the night. The wealthy neighborhoods of studio and aerospace exec-
utives, the true rulers of Los Angeles, became armed camps.
> SURGE shook things up in Los Angeles, but it never saw the riots Hoping to somehow come out of this hell alive, these powers
that plagued the rest of the world. Riots just don’t happen in the begged for help, begged for the survival of Los Angeles. First
over-constructed neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Some folks just they pleaded to the California administration, but their cries
cashed in while other became rejected and went into hiding. were ignored. What government remained in California were
Nothing violent happens here unless it is a staged publicity stunt. now lackeys of Imperial General Saito and couldn’t care less
about the troubles so far south in L.A. Then they pleaded to the
> Working Girl
City Authority, but they maintained an attitude that Los
Angeles could take care of itself (apparently their rooms have
> You must live with the better half, because that sure isn’t what no windows). So instead, the spin-doctors and industrial
happened in East L.A. SURGE sparked off gang wars like we
barons of Los Angeles went directly to the UCAS, Ute, and
haven’t seen in decades. Every half-wit, machismo-infected
Pueblo and made a desperate request for assistance.
punk used SURGE as an excuse to off his neighboring gang or All three nations would have loved to waltz into Los
even the former leader of his own. Nuyen may have flowed like Angeles as heroes, but all of them had been heavily taxed by
water in Studio City, but blood was flowing down in the skids. the events of the year. As it turned out, Pueblo won by default,
> Angeleno simply because it was much quicker on the draw. On
December 8th, Pueblo Corporate Council forces moved into
Disaster after disaster struck the world, and Los Angeles Los Angeles. The cavalry had arrived.
became Nero, fiddling while Rome burnt to the ground.
Armageddon came to Earth then, erupting with fury throughout
the world. The seas raged and the mountains exploded and Los
> Star-Struck, like most Los Angelenos, doesn’t know the full
story behind the PCC’s arrival. Pueblo moved fast, that much is
Angeles just looked on with glee, intent on celebrating the final
true. But they had some help that allowed them to move so
days of the world. California fell apart around us, but we never
fast. Locally, a lot of the media magnates were in favor of a
lifted a finger to help. The studio execs and simsense stars could-
n’t be bothered with those troubles. Besides, what had the rest close tie to Pueblo’s thriving technology development and
many of the industrial powers saw money to be made in sup-

plying Pueblo’s top-class military. They even went so far as to Now Los Angeles is Pueblo territory. We paid for our arro-
use their security forces to help Pueblo hold down the city, hop- gance with our independence. Now Native American soldiers
ing the favor would be remembered later. patrol our streets and repair our shattered city. The Pueblo have
> Raygun expanded their nation through the Mojave Desert all the way to
L.A. But will they stay? Aztlan and Ute have threatened with
> The UCAS has been pretty quiet about the whole incident, retaliation for Pueblo’s bold move and Pueblo soldiers speak of
probably because the voters wouldn’t have backed the idea
ghost stories and men going missing in the haunted Mojave
Desert. For now, Los Angeles’ reckoning seems to be over. Now
of aiding California right now anyway, since the UCAS is knee-
the question is whether we have learned any lessons.
deep in drek as it is. The Ute nation is absolutely livid, citing the
Pueblo move as an insult to the accords of the Sovereign Tribal
Council. In reality, however, those accords haven’t meant any-
> Pueblo’s got a good military, but it’s hard for me to believe
that the Azzies haven’t rolled in their own forces. Why hasn’t
thing in decades and Ute is just upset that Pueblo got there first.
Aztlan made a move against them?
> Windsinger
> Sandsnake
> Pueblo’s invasion was boosted by the use of a Mojave military
base that was once property of Fuchi Industrial Electronics. The
> Right as Pueblo swooped in, the Azzies did actually make
some half-hearted moves towards Los Angeles, but they didn’t
Pueblo forces used the base as a forward supply and station-
get far. They simply didn’t have enough forces mobilized to
ing point, allowing them to move their forces in so much quick-
match the Pueblo invasion and their hoops were soundly
er than anyone else and win the prize.
thrashed. Aztlan slunk back to its own turf, but they are still tak-
> Slim ing a few potshots at Pueblo now and then. And since then,
Aztlan’s been pre-occupied with problems elsewhere …
> Fuchi’s been long dead, though. Who’s been operating the
base?
> Diego
> Crazy Eddie
> They planned to, believe me. But keep reading this file, chum.
They got distracted later on and haven’t been able to tackle
> Ownership of the Mojave base transferred to Novatech after anything since. Ute, in the meantime, is just talking tough. They
the corporate war died down. Novatech’s official plans are to
don’t really want to tangle with Pueblo’s military unless absolute-
use the base for a testing ground for milspec weaponry, but
ly necessary. But at the same time they do not want the world to
with all the restructuring they’ve been doing, they haven’t got-
think they support Pueblo’s move. So harsh language has been
ten around to it yet.
tossed back and forth between Ute and Pueblo, threats that we
> Jammer can only hope never materialize. But it has certainly destroyed
any image of the Native American nations being unified.
> Looks like they found a more profitable use for it. How much
you wanna bet that the PCC cut some kind of deal with
> South of the Border
Novatech in order to use the base as a staging ground?
> Killroy > The only obstacle to Pueblo’s efforts to control all of Southern
California has been the Mojave Desert. It’s expansive, deadly,
and full of a lot of independent folks who prefer not to be ruled
> It’s obvious what the nature of the deal is. Novatech wants by any government. The only friends the PCC has there are the
an in with the high-tech computer companies in the PCC.
Mojave base and Palm Springs. The posh corporate enclave
Novatech helps Pueblo take Los Angeles and in exchange the
cut a deal with Pueblo quickly, since many of LA’s belea-
Pueblo Corporate Council licenses all of its new cutting-edge
guered wealthy ran there to hide.
Matrix tech to Novatech subsidiaries.
> New England Patriot > The Thirtieth Palm
> I don’t know about that. I think the prize that Novatech has > Those Mojave ghost stories that Star-Struck mentioned are a
big deal among the PCC soldiers right now. Thirty-five soldiers
its eyes on is Los Angeles itself. Though the quake and riot
have disappeared into the desert since the Pueblo occupation
destroyed a good chunk of L.A.’s economy, there are still bil-
began, lost despite all the tracking technology they’ve been
lions of nuyen worth of industry in entertainment and aero-
using. The soldiers stationed in the Mojave talk about the “Siren
space. Walker Aerodesign, a Novatech company, would love
of the Sands” luring soldiers away with magic and eventually
to get its hands on Los Angeles. And exclusive deals with L.A.’s
stealing their life from them. Sounds like a bunch of paranoia to
studios would give a serious boost to Novatech’s consumer
me, but something’s definitely making soldiers vanish out there.
entertainment electronics field. I’m waiting for Los Angeles to
become Novatech Boston West.
> Spooks
> Orange Stripe

YUCATÁN WAR
ith so many events shaking the world up in the past six months, it’s easy to miss small strug-
W gles taking place in hidden areas of the world. When you live in the sprawl, it takes an effort
to be concerned about a dirty war being fought in the jungles of a country half the world
away. Well, it’s my job to bring these matters to your attention, to tell the tales that no else will,
and to point out exactly why you should care. So listen up. There’s a nasty fight taking place in
the Yucatán, and it may affect not just you, but the entire world.
I’ve assembled several messages that, combined, provide a good background to the war.
The first of these was a call for aid that was blitzed to just about every email address in the
Matrix. That means your spam filters probably nuked it, or you probably axed it yourself without
even looking at it. I recommend you take a closer look, so you can see exactly what our friends
in the Yucatán are experiencing. I took the liberty of translating it from the original Spanish. If
you know something more about the situation that we don’t, feel free to share.
> Captain Chaos
Transmitted: 14 February 2062 at 16:28:05 (PST)
SUPPORT THE OPPRESSED PEOPLE OF THE YUCATÁN!

Posted 02-12-62
“Here we are, the dead. They die again, but this time for a better life.”
On the day the Aztlan army massacred hundreds of unarmed civilians, my people, the tra-
ditional people of Mexico, began our struggle. After many years suffering the grave conditions
of our poverty and the lack of freedom and true democracy, we knew we had to fight for our
elementary rights. The bloody slaughter in Campeche in 2050 proved to us that we had to fight
in the only way the Aztlan government has left us: armed struggle.
In the dozen years since, we have fought a people’s war against the military and cultural
oppression of Aztlan. A war for basic respect, metahuman dignity and authentic freedom. From
the beginning, our war for liberation has been subject to attacks by repressive government and
corporate bodies and military troops. The Aztlan and foreign media, who care little about the
truth of our struggle, have also slandered us. But now we are being attacked with an intensity
that is genocidal in scope, and so we plead for your support.

> While the Yucatán freedom fighters are largely composed of
peasants and traditionals, they’ve become far more of a seri- > Actually, from what I’ve heard on the merc grapevine, the
ous guerrilla force than this post gives them credit for. They account is pretty much telling the truth. I know half a dozen
have enough backing from Amazonia, Tir Tairngire and other merc units that are getting paid extra to help the Azzies “clean
powers to field top-notch milspec gear and hefty Awakened house.” Some of those bastards are bloodthirsty monsters, but
abilities. They’ve also been known to employ mercenaries like at least one group is balking at the carnage and excessive bru-
me. tality being employed.
> Jungle Creeper > Arctic White
> If you buy the Aztlan media spin, the rebel strings are being > I’m not surprised to hear that the ACS troops have resorted to
pulled by foreign interests who are deceiving the Mexican chemical weapons. Such weapons aren’t very useful in con-
people and are simply out to get poor, poor little Aztlan. The ventional warfare since you have to issue gas masks and pro-
truth is never so simple, but the rebels aren’t necessarily shining tective systems to all your troops, and these tend to make
knights either. troops uncomfortable, less able to coordinate their actions and
> Beowulf more likely to panic. But most guerrilla fighters, and above all
civilians, are virtually unprotected. Even relatively primitive
> They’re fighting a just cause in my book, and they’ve done a chemical weapons, such as phosgene or sarin, can be devas-
good job of it so far, despite the lack of outside attention and tating under those conditions, never mind the drek we can pro-
support. Many areas of the Yucatán are no-go zones for Azzie duce nowadays. Wiping out an entire town wouldn’t be hard,
troops—the rebels are in control. Elsewhere the Azzies have to provided you’ve got decent delivery systems (which is the real
keep on their toes, because the rebels excel at guerrilla hit and trick to using chemical weapons, and incidentally also why ter-
run warfare. They use all the tricks in the book, and are invent- rorist attacks with such weapons usually fail). I don’t doubt
ing more every day. Aztechnology has the resources.
> VC > Argent
One week ago today, the Aztlaner army began a major > Let’s not forget that even if the civilians somehow survive a
offensive throughout the Yucatán. This invasion has the clear chem attack, their livestock probably will not, instantly plunging
intention of savagely destroying our land and our people. The whole villages into poverty. Add to that the apparent use of
Aztlaners wish to kill all freedom fighters regardless of the cost strong defoliants, and no crops will grow in the near future,
in metahuman lives or our beloved country. either. After that, the gradual build-up of toxins at the top of the
As I write this, Aztlan troops are sparing no one in their
food chain—i.e., in metahumans—will cause all sorts of cancers
savage drive to completely eliminate all liberation movements
for a long time to come. Warfare of this sort is very nasty, and
in the Yucatán peninsula. Throughout the Yucatán, they cut
will create repercussions years down the line.
down forests, burn crops and demolish entire villages in an
effort to crush our already-suffering people, whose spirit could > Mad Chemist
not be broken by the terror tactics the Aztlan government has
long employed. > How much land does millions of hectares represent anyway?
This offensive is more than simple warfare. It is thorough > Asphalt
devastation. They raze the jungles that protect our people from
their spying devices and they poison the earth so that we may > The entire Seattle Metroplex is about 4,000 square kilometers,
not use it again to grow food and sustain ourselves. They spread or 400,000 hectares. At a quick guess, millions of hectares
defoliants and toxins from aircraft and drones, gas our villages would be the equivalent of the whole ’plex plus much of the
and taint our water supplies with invisible death. They have slain surrounding lands up to the Cascades.
tens of thousands, including our innocent children. They have > ASDF
burned millions of hectares of farmland and jungle. They even
slaughter the forest animals. Their cruelty spares no one. In the face of this outrageous assault, the Mexican people
are calling upon people throughout the world to support our
> Since when do peasants hire ad copy hacks to pull people’s struggle. We call upon you to initiate actions in solidarity with
heartstrings like this? Now I’m not saying I support Aztlan’s our freedom fighters. We call upon all foreign leaders to suspend
Yucatán war, but I find this whole “plea for help” a bit suspect. economic trade to the dictatorial government that seeks to
It comes across to me as a poorly staged ploy to give destroy us. We call upon any material support that can be
Aztechnology some bad press. Remember that the source isn’t offered, to help throw off the yoke of Aztlan oppression by any
exactly unbiased.
means necessary!
The Revolutionary Council of the Flame of Freedom
> Cynic

mid—ironic, eh?). You can also enlist as a volunteer fighter, but
> Or you could buy some more BTLs. (Lots of “freedom fighters”
support their operations with them.) you’ll need to find a way to get yourself smuggled in. Or you
can simply firebomb your local Aztechnology office or Aztlan
> Oozin Aah
embassy. Every little bit counts.
> I know corps and governments that deal more BTLs than any > Wreckoon
rebel groups do. Whose interests does keeping people zombi-
fied on sims really serve? > I’d think twice before heading down to the Yucatán to lend
> Vitamin X a hand. It’s not fun to operate in an area you’re not used to
and without your normal resources at hand. At the least, you
> Ok, so why now? This may sound harsh, but the civil war has better speak Spanish and probably some indigenous lan-
been going on for over ten years. So why didn’t Aztlan do this guages as well.
ages ago? > Marcos
> SuperTech
> The rebels have a lot of support in Latin communities around
> First of all, to win a guerrilla war, you need to win the locals the sprawl. If you know the right people, you can make the
over to your side—can’t do that by massacring them. Plus out- contacts necessary. They’re always looking for good arms
right slaughter is usually pretty bad for foreign PR, which even a dealers, and they occasionally hire shadowrunners for runs
country like Aztlan needs to worry about. That’s why they against Aztechnology. They’re paranoid about Azzie spies,
haven’t done this before. though, so expect strict precautions.
So why now? I see two reasons: Denver and Los Angeles. > Sin Fronteras
When the Big One wrecked LA and the city was lying on its
back, begging for mercy, Pueblo pounced on it first. That slot- >The Johnsons for these runs are usually not working for the
ted the Azzies off nicely, and they were gearing up to contest rebels themselves, but for wealthy, independent supporters—
it when blam!—Ghostwalker boots them out of Denver. For the rebels are too strapped for cash to pay a typical runner’s
over a decade they’ve managed to handle both the Yucatán fee. Recently, I’ve been getting the impression Aztechnology is
insurrection and ongoing border skirmishes with Amazonia and doing some hiring of its own—for missions against itself. The
the CAS. But the Azzies are smart enough to know that they point seems to be making the rebels look bad (even if it costs
can’t handle a three-front conflict, so in order to make their some Azzie lives or property damage), so as to turn public opin-
moves up north they need to disengage somewhere. ion against them. Why else would an Aztechnology Johnson
Amazonia is unlikely to give up, so the Yucatán rebels got the have tried to hire me to perform a gruesome attack against a
short straw. Stuffer Shack and leave signs behind pointing to the rebels? (I
> SWO turned the job down, BTW.)
> Dorwinion
> The Azzies have probably had contingency plans for this sort
of political situation for some time, so after the Denver debacle, > That’s just the shadowrunner side, where one-off missions
they must have set one in motion that guaranteed a quick vic- are the norm. The rebels are much more in the market for mer-
tory (of sorts) over their backyard rebels. If nothing else, success cenaries. They don’t care much about your rep as long as
will allow them to move lots of experienced troops up north you’re available right now and are willing to fight for what
soon. Judging by how quickly the Yucatán offensive started, they can pay (which isn’t all that much, truth be told, but
the chemicals and delivery systems were already stockpiled there are exceptions). Merc missions run the full spectrum: sim-
and quickly moved into position to deploy. ply fighting the Azzies, training guerrillas, special operations,
> Arctic White you name it. The job is unusual in that you work for the rebels,
whereas usually in a guerrilla war mercs are employed by the
> I’d like to answer the Revolutionary Council’s call for help, but larger (government) side.
the Yucatán is very far away. Ideas on how I can help? > Matador
> Rage
THE OTHER SIDE
> The easiest way is to simply donate some cred. There are sev- > Here’s an Aztlan Armed Forces message, intercepted and
eral public donation accounts that you can transfer cred to decoded by one of our contributors; it’s dated earlier than the
online (be careful, I’m sure the Azzies monitor them). You can plea for help, but it makes more sense if you read it after that.
also do some volunteer work for one of the half dozen, above- > Captain Chaos
ground organizations that support the cause. The Free Yucatán Transmitted: 14 February 2062 at 16:32:39 (PST)
Movement has an office in downtown Seattle at 12th Avenue
& Olive Street (yes, two blocks from the Aztechnology pyra-

To: Major-General J. Sanguino, Ground Forces General Staff > Remind me to tell you about some shadowrunners I used to
From: Colonel A. Oviedo, Headquarters, 62nd Infantry Division know, who flooded an office building with neurostun, then
(Mechanized) went inside with only gas masks for protection.
Subject: Operation Rancho Obrero > ASDF
Date: 02-06-62
Phase Two of operations will begin according to schedule,
Sir, tomorrow morning. The Air Forces indicate sufficient transports
As instructed, Operation Rancho Obrero in the Yucatán outfitted with spray tanks are ready for full-scale operations
Special Military Zone is well underway. This is the initial situa- against rebel bases and supporting villages deep inside the
tion report and should be considered preliminary. theater of operations.
Initial artillery, rocket and aerial bombardments of known If resistance continues to remain light, operations will be
and suspected rebel positions started at H-hour, 0500, on 02- complete ahead of schedule, allowing early redeployment of
05-62, using a combination of high explosive, Violet Cross the 62nd Division. A detailed report will follow when more
and Black Cross munitions. Phase One of operations was initi- precise information has become available.
ated at 1000 hours that same day; rebel resistance has been
light and easily crushed where encountered. The disruption > Why doesn’t this slot say what’s really going on? That
caused by the area bombardments and Cross munitions pre- “according to schedule” and “sufficient aircraft” drivel could
vented rebel forces from putting up a coherent defense, mean anything!
allowing all our units to move virtually unhindered to secure
> Wiley
their first-day objectives.
Casualties have been light. Ten soldiers have been killed
and thirty-nine wounded by rebel counterattacks or ambushes. > Probably because this General Sanguino already knows the
way the operation should run, and this message may be inter-
Reports indicate that in three incidents our soldiers were
exposed to Violet Cross due to negligence with their protective cepted. Thus, the colonel is not saying things he doesn’t need to.
equipment, leading to five further fatalities and two hospital- > Night 1-Too
izations. Estimates of rebel casualties are several thousand
dead, five hundred wounded. VIEW FROM THE FRONT
> Like everyone else, Azzie soldiers write letters and email to loved
ones at home. Some friends of mine happened to stumble upon
> This Violet Cross is pretty vile stuff. Does anyone have a con-
crete idea what it might be? a batch of these in an Aztechnology mail relay host, where they
were on hold until the military censors could take a pass at them.
> Night 1-Too
We stole them and posted the interesting ones to Azziewatch. This
one comes from an ACS lieutenant on the front lines.
> It could be anything. “Violet Cross” is most likely a code name
for some standard war gas like green ring-3 or seven-7. Or it > Corona
could be something entirely new that Aztechnology devel- Transmitted: 01 March 2062 at 06:22:19 (PST)
oped specifically to kill rebels dead. I’m willing to bet that even
The middle of nowhere, February 27, 2062
the Azzie soldiers using it probably don’t know what’s actually
Dear Mother and Father,
in the containers—all they’ll have been told is how to store and It has been over three weeks since we started our “big
handle it without getting themselves killed. push” against the rebels. We are destroying their capacity to
> Earl fight at a steady pace. Their resistance has not been this weak at
any time I can remember from my fifteen months here in the
> I wonder how much they’ll adjust those body counts later on. Yucatán, so it will not be much longer before we will be victori-
Thousands dead but only five hundred wounded seems unlike- ous here—and then, as the saying here goes, “Denver is next.”
ly, as it tends to be the other way around.
> Capricorn > Ha! Come on over and try, Azzie scum!
> Texan Tumbleweed
> Don’t forget they’re spraying chemical weapons against
unprotected people. Like we said earlier, that’s going to cause
I must admit, the rebels do put up a good fight. There is
much respect for their tenacity among the men, despite the
lots of casualties, and not just among the rebel fighters.
atrocities the terrorists commit against our soldiers. Many of
> Mad Chemist them are simple people, trying to live their lives, just like our
own families back home. It’s impossible to tell who is a rebel
> So let’s donate some gas masks to them. I bet the Azzies have and who is a farmer—they are all one and the same. Some of
a warehouse of them sitting around somewhere. them live for months deep in the jungle, appearing out of
> Streak nowhere to strike at us when we least expect them. They use
underground caves and man-made tunnels to move around

where we can’t see them, and ambush our units before fleeing > It sounds to me like the rebels are getting their hoops kicked.
back into the jungle. Their noncombatants hide the fighters, It may only be a matter of time before they lose the war.
give them shelter and store their weapons and supplies. So we
> Vulture
are forced to torture them for information and burn entire vil-
lages to the ground to find the hiding spots. The work is grue-
some, and I find that I must continually remind myself that
> Some Carib pirates are making loads of cred by getting peo-
ple who can pay out of the Yucatán to “safer” places. A lot of
eliminating the terrorist menace is necessary to save Aztlan
the smugglers who used to bring the rebels weapons and sup-
from corruption by foreign powers.
plies are now charging COD or even in advance for their ser-
vices, since running the Azzie blockade has become a lot more
> That’s it, toe the party line. Nothing is stronger than the cop in
your own head. dangerous. It’s also a sign that they don’t expect the rebels to
be around for much longer.
> Zapatista
> Lynch
We come across many booby traps, and have to be con-
stantly watchful not to fall victim to them. Our bases are also POISONING THE EARTH
regularly attacked by rockets, mortars and even suicide > This article was written for the Awakened World e-zine by Ms.
bombers. But on every mission, it is obvious that the enemy is Heather Edwards, an MIT&T graduate with a Th.D. and a spe-
weakening with each passing day—the numbers of rebel cialty in parabotany. She happened to be in the Yucatán for
patrols we encounter become lower, their attacks more spo- research when this mess started and only managed to get out
radic, their ambushes less effective and the prisoners we take via less-than-legitimate channels. As a result of her direct expe-
are more diverse—more women, children and even aged riences, the article was rather brazen and revealing about the
elders. Total victory is only a matter of time. particulars of the conflict. Unfortunately, Aztechnology got
Our biggest victory yet was last week, on the 23rd. My word of the content and threatened AW with eight different
platoon was part of an operation that struck a hard blow to the
types of lawsuit if they didn’t spike the article or tone it down to
enemy during a four-day search and destroy mission. We had
something their censors felt was “acceptable.” Luckily for us,
already engaged the enemy several times and caused them
an Azziewatch muckraker caught wind of the deal and
heavy casualties at each turn. On the fourth day, my scouts
came across an enemy base. We called in reinforcements and arranged to liberate the original article. Enjoy.
joined them for a six-hour battle. We set soldiers, helicopters > Captain Chaos
and artillery against their troops, magic and a feathered ser- Transmitted: 05 March 2062 at 11:32:09 (PST)
pent! It was a hard-fought victory, but my anti-aircraft gunner
Aztlan military forces have started a campaign with far-
fired the missile that finally shot down the beast! When they
reaching effects on the integrity of the manafield of the Yucatán
saw their champion go down, the remaining rebels saw that
peninsula. Heather Edwards, AW special correspondent, sent
they couldn’t win. As they fled into the jungle they ran straight
in the following report.
into our flanking force, which made short work of them. Many
Approximately one month ago, Aztlan army and air force
soldiers are interpreting the death of the feathered serpent as
units began a major slash and burn offensive in the Yucatán,
the beginning of the end for the rebels.
targeting guerrilla forces and civilians alike. The Aztlan military
campaign to root out the rebel threat relies heavily on the use
> So are many of the rebels—with a symbol as strong as that of of chemical weapons and biowarfare agents sprayed from air-
a dracoform shot down, plenty of the rebels are ready to roll
craft, trucks and even backpack spraying tanks. According to
over and bow to the Azzie military. rebel forces, the chemicals being used range from defoliants to
> Isabel blistering gases and nerve agents and other assorted toxic or
carcinogenic chemicals.
> Anyone know who that wizworm was? Henequen? Pobre? Aside from large casualties among the metahuman pop-
Maybe even Hualpa? ulation and wildlife, the immediate effect of this chemical
> George warfare has been the devastation of large areas of farmland
and forest. Rebels and civilians alike report that Aztlan forces
> It wasn’t a great dragon, so it wasn’t Hualpa. From what I’ve are leaving nothing untouched as they burn forests, destroy
heard, Henequen is still running his La Venta organization from food stockpiles and poison wells. Apparently, the Aztlan mil-
Denver. It must have been one of the other beasties. itary command feels that such extreme sanctions are neces-
sary in order to weed out the rebel “infestation.” A large per-
> Dragonslayer
centage of the population has fled its homes in search of
I must end this letter now, as I am about to go out on safety, but rebel commanders report that Aztlan forces indis-
another mission. I hope it finds you and the rest of the family criminately target refugee columns with chemical weapons
well, and I promise to write again as soon as possible. as well.
Your son, Manny

> There isn’t a peep about any of this on the mainstream news- > How do you take a quick look in the Yucatán?
nets, trid and Matrix channels. The Aztlan public relations > Mad Chemist
machine is working overtime to cover up the whole affair and
offering a whole range of distractions—Aztechnology product > It’s only about 4,500 kilometers from Seattle, my hometown,
giveaways, fire sales and competitions, new high-profile advert and even less from many other North American cities. As a
campaigns and flashy products, press conferences, celebrity healthy magician can do over 6,000 km an hour on the astral
appearances and so on. The second leg of the probe race plane, I was there in about 45 minutes, including a few stops
plays right into this, of course. along the way to check I was still on the right course. Allowing
> Subvertiser for a decent safety margin, that left several hours to snoop
around and get back home.
As a result of the massive contamination, devastation and
> Eli
bloodletting, a high background count has developed in many
areas, polluting the manafield and clouding the astral plane. This Whatever Aztlan’s goals are, their current military cam-
has made the use of magic difficult at best, hazardous at worst. paign is wreaking a terrible toll on the ecology of the Yucatán,
Dozens of shamans, on both sides of the conflict, report that the purity of the mana flow and the mental stability of magi-
they are sometimes unable to conjure nature spirits in affected cians on both sides of the war. If this initiative is allowed to con-
areas, or that their spirits refuse to enter these areas and some- tinue, large areas of the Yucatán may be rendered inhospitable,
times become belligerent and hostile. Some shamans report horribly polluted on both the astral and physical planes. This
summoning spirits that appear as toxic forms of their normal threat to basic life and survival cannot be allowed to continue—
manifestations. I personally assensed one such conjuring, where the international community must appeal to Aztlan to call off
the summoned spirit appeared twisted and toxic and was the offensive. If something does not happen soon, the relent-
impossible to keep under control. Banishing proved difficult, less onslaught will mean dire consequences for the people,
but was the only viable solution under the circumstances. It suc- ecology and mana of the Yucatán for many years to come.
ceeded, but other shamans have not been so lucky.
Furthermore, rebel forces report that the Aztlan military is THE TIDE TURNS
deploying a number of magicians trained in the use of blood > This email to the parental units comes from the same Azzie
magic. They claim that many prisoners of war have been sacri- lieutenant whose private mail we hung out to see just a few
ficed so that these “blood mages” can fuel their spells of mass
weeks ago. Apparently the poor slag’s parents never got to
destruction and summon spirits of the blood to track down and
see this one because it was dumped entirely by the censor. I
destroy rebels. Though similar rumors have been leveled
don’t waste much love on Azzie soldiers, but I pity the ones who
against Aztlan in the past, the sheer amount of reports and the
first hand eyewitness accounts of villagers and rebels who sim- are just duped cogs in the machine and who may end up
ply don’t know enough about magical theory to craft such cor- dying for a cause they shouldn’t support.
rect and detailed accounts is unnerving. > Corona
Even worse, an ever-increasing number of tales from all Transmitted: 14 March 2062 at 18:51:59 (PST)
over the Yucatán speak of shamans who have changed their
behavior. Several shamans supporting the rebel fighters have Base Camp, March 12, 2062
allegedly gone insane and been subdued, or been driven from Dear Mother and Father,
the region because the devastation was wrecking them on an As I write this letter, I don’t know if I will ever see you
emotional level. On the other side, it is rumored that many again. The whole war is rapidly taking a turn for the worse, and
Aztlan military shamans have actually refused orders or gone I doubt we will ever get out of here.
AWOL. Others clearly seem to be taking their destructive mis- Mom and Dad, things aren’t going as well as the
sion further than necessary, expressing obscenely glib behavior screamsheets in Tenochtitlán say. Desertion has started to climb
to the mass-scale ruin and life-taking they are systematically con- alarmingly—my platoon has lost six soldiers over the past two
ducting. Though no one dares to say it, these erratic, sudden and weeks alone (two of them were caught and shot). The morale of
callous changes in behavior can only be viewed as “going toxic.” the regular troops has plummeted due to the needless destruc-
tion we are causing to the people of this region—people that are
not all that different from our own families at home. Our condi-
> After a quick look at the place, I’m convinced. Whole
tions are also quite bad. We are sometimes forced to wear our
swaths of ravaged landscape in the Yucatán simply feel
protective systems for days on end. The air tastes sharp, and
wrong. On the astral, a heavy haze lingers, tasting of ash, mis-
many days a chemical haze lies over the land. Many men have
ery and other things that I don’t care to think about. In some
become sick. It is hard to sleep, because we are bombarding the
areas, the environmental carnage was surreal, and the astral rebels with bombs, shells, missiles and rockets around the clock.
distortion weighed so heavily on my psyche that I couldn’t Insubordination has become a serious problem. Some of
bear to stay there. They are killing the place, turning it into an our men have been jailed for refusing orders, or for acts of sab-
ugly, lifeless void. otage. I suspect that the “combat accident” that claimed the
> Eli

life of Sgt. Morales was not really an accident—his own troops The worst element of the whole situation is the shamans.
had come to hate him. Every one of the shamans I have seen in the past few weeks,
I am seeing many men who once were extremely loyal to whether attached to my unit or another, has shown a shock-
their units and their country turn against them. Our own mis- ing degree of insubordination and a near-total disregard for
sion is tearing us apart from within. their fellow soldiers’ well-being. Just recently, the shaman
attached to my platoon caused two incidents in the same
> I hear that the Azzies are trying to prop up morale by switching day. First, her “reconnaissance” led a squad straight into a
out regular grunts with warriors from these weird military orders rebel ambush which—looking back—I’m certain she must
they have. Almost every damn Eagle warrior in the country has have known was there. Later on, I was called forward by a
been rotated into action, and a lot of these Otontin warriors as scout to look at something, and when I returned, the prison-
well. Apparently the Azzie higher-ups feel that they can count on ers we took after the ambush had been killed on her orders. I
these order types for a higher level of loyalty and commitment.
suspect she used some form of magical compulsion to force
the men into obeying her orders. This was an outrage, a mur-
> Beowulf der that I could not allow. I had her arrested and reported the
incident to my captain. He released her and told me to forget
> The Azzies aren’t the only ones bringing in fresh troops. I’m a it had ever happened.
merc who used to fight for one of the rebel factions, and I’ll tell I was stunned, but that was not the end of it. A few days
you that Amazonia has started to take a heavier hand in the later, she went mad. One of the men caught her in the act as
war. For years they’ve simply sponsored the guerrillas, aiding she attempted to sabotage the chemical tanker trucks at base
them with gear, weapons, magic and advice. Last week, they camp. She resisted arrest, and fought with magic and spirits.
started sneaking in actual troops. They’re being smart about She was shot dead for the safety of the camp, but not before
it—they all represent as mercs or local volunteers, and they injuring many men and setting off an explosion and chemical
don’t carry a scrap of paper that could link them to Amazonia. spill that forced us to relocate the camp.
But they operate like regular soldiers of some elite unit. Not nec- I have heard rumors that speak of many similar incidents.
essarily SpecOps, but certainly above-average in quality. Many of our soldiers have been found, both inside camp and
> Lynch out in the field, murdered and mutilated by magical means.

Not all of these deaths are due to the rebels. Our shamans can debris are likely. It is also probable that large numbers of trees
no longer be trusted. I would suspect them all of turning trai- in the jungle areas have been uprooted by the shocks.
tor, except that they each seem to enjoy killing rebels—in fact, NewsNet will keep you up-to-date as more news arrives
they revel in it. This makes me afraid. If we cannot control our about this catastrophe.
own shamans, we are lost. //End Transcript//
I pray to Huitzilopochtli that this war will end soon. I
want this madness to stop. I want with all of my heart to see > That isn’t saying much, is it? Does anyone here know more?
you again. I’m looking for facts, please, not gossip or unsubstantiated
Manny rumors.
> Aghast View
> After a letter like that, he can sure kiss his commission good-
bye. > That’s going to be very difficult. The Azzies already have a
> GPF tight cordon over the area, though the shakeup knocked open
a few holes. But they’re working fast to tighten the noose—
> I find it amazing that he went from “victory is right around the they’re trying hard to keep journalists and even relief workers
corner” to “we’re all doomed” within the space of two weeks. out. I guess they’re hoping the earthquake will do some of their
If this letter is truly indicative of the morale of the Azzie troops, dirty work for them.
then their dirty little “quick-fix” war is going to be a lot more dif- > PG18
ficult than they think.
> Findler-Man > An earthquake plus heavy storms and tidal waves, eh? For
this to come all at once doesn’t smack of coincidence to me.
GAIA’S WRATH It sounds a lot like magic on the scale of the Great Ghost
> This transcript comes straight from NewsNet. It looks like it will Dance, especially when it all happens during Aztlan’s biggest
change the whole Yucatán situation, so pay attention.
offensive ever in the region.
> Captain Chaos > Uninvited
Transmitted: 15 March 2062 at 20:17:52 (PST)
//Begin Transcript// > Howling Coyote and his followers did it forty-five years ago,
Ian McGrath, NewsNet Anchor: This is NewsNet’s News at and I imagine some of those old shamans must support the
Nine, and my name is Ian McGrath. Good evening, and thank Yucatán struggle. Maybe they taught the rebels the rituals they
you for joining us tonight. used for the Ghost Dance.
A major earthquake struck the Yucatán peninsula in east- > Parallel
ern Aztlan at eight minutes past three this afternoon. Scientists
at the CAS Seismological Institute say it had a magnitude of 7.8 > Maybe those Amazonians are responsible for it.
on the Richter scale and was followed by at least three after-
> Xena
shocks of lesser magnitude. The epicenter was located some
one hundred kilometers south of the city of Mérida, in a sparse-
ly-populated area of jungle. Furthermore, there have been > Could be, but it’s very hard to tell the difference between a
natural earthquake and a magically-induced one. The rebels
reports of tidal waves along the Yucatán’s coastline. This disas-
ter follows a week of gale-force storms that have been raging could claim they’ve summoned it, but I think nobody will be
in Yucatán coastal areas for several days already and are con- able to prove anything either way.
tinuing unabated. > ASDF
We have no pictures of the disaster to show you as the
Aztlan government quarantined the area as part of a special > But why strike the Yucatán? Aren’t they putting themselves at
military zone several years ago, with highly restricted access risk? Granted, it could be a desperate, last chance, scorch-
for civilians and journalists alike, due to the activities of sever- and-retreat maneuver. But why wouldn’t they strike other areas
al rebel insurgent groups in the area. For this reason, little fac- where they could hurt the Azzies more and force them to divert
tual information is available about the precise effects of this their attention?
earthquake and storms on the people living there, or on the > Matador
Aztlan military, which is apparently in the midst of a major
offensive against those rebel forces.
> Actually, I think the rebels are more prepared to survive a nat-
According to experts of the Seismological Institute here in
ural disaster like this. They’re used to living off the land, while the
Atlanta, damage to urban areas is most likely extensive, with a
Aztlan troops are based in cities and camps that are vulnera-
high possibility of fires caused by ruptured gas mains and bro-
ble to quakes.
ken electrical cables. Most buildings in the area are suspected
not to be earthquake-resistant, so some casualties from falling > Mole

> A tree falling on your head is just as likely to kill you as a col- > This earthquake and discussion prompted me to take another
lapsing building. Would you want to be living in a rebel tunnel astral look down south (it’s been about three weeks since my first
complex when an earthquake hits? Can you say “instant one), and you wouldn’t believe how many things have
grave?” Not a fun way to go. changed.
> Cu Chi Crawler Large tracts of the jungle were already poisonous waste-
lands on my last trip, and the Azzies have certainly not sat still
> Think about this. If everything we’ve heard is true, then the since then—the devastation is a lot worse, and now it’s also
Yucatán is crawling with toxics at the moment. What if all of spread to the urban areas. The earthquake and floods leveled
these toxic shamans banded together and caused the earth- large parts of the major cities (Mérida, Campeche, Valladolid,
quake as revenge against the poisoning of nature? They’d be Tepich, Progresso and assorted others) and virtually all the small
dropping dead in droves from ritual magic on that scale, but villages and hamlets that were still standing after the Aztlan bom-
knowing toxics, that’s not their concern. bardments. The military camps are possibly in the worst state of
> Silicon Mage all. Many of them seemed to have suffered chemical contami-
nation from burst tanks and ruptured storage containers. I saw
> The toxics may have simply wanted to cause more destruc- more than one that was completely lifeless, littered with corpses.
tion. With unhinged braincases like that, their actual motives The field of astral space was … unclean. I’ve never felt so
are generally unfathomable—all you know for sure is that revolted in my life. I scrubbed and scrubbed in the shower
they’re fragged in the head. afterward, but the stink, the taste of death, still lingers. I’m never
> Nova going back there again.
> Eli
> No. This was not a metahuman effort. The Earth herself rose up
and fought back. SPIRITS IN FLUX
> Anonymous > Here’s the latest disturbing news from inside the Aztlan military
machine.
> Y’know, I wonder about that. I happen to know a free spirit > Captain Chaos
from the deep jungles of the Yucatán (it’s a long story how we Transmitted: 17 March 2062 at 09:21:59 (PST)
met, worth some cred at the least). I’m not going to give you
To: Major-General J. Sanguino, Ground Forces General Staff
its name, but let’s call it Ivy. Ivy was the curious type, and tend-
From: Colonel A. Oviedo, Headquarters, 62nd Infantry Division
ed to stick around me for months on end, checking out what I (Mechanized)
was doing. When those bad storms started up about a week Subject: Operation Rancho Obrero
ago, my crew docked in Cuba to wait it out. I was on deck Date: 03-16-62
watching the storm clouds the first night when Ivy suddenly
appears in front of me and says he’s sorry, but he’s gotta go. Sir,
“The land is calling me,” he said. “I must go and protect it. I The situation in the Yucatán Special Military Zone has
must wage war.” Then, shazam, he was gone. taken a drastic turn for the worse.
I didn’t understand it at the time. But now I think I do. The The earthquake has seriously disrupted our operations by
Yucatán issued a call to arms, and Ivy listened. destroying or damaging several camps, disrupting our com-
> Maroon munications and hindering our supply lines. Many roads have
been rendered impassable, and the constant severe storms
impair our ability to use drones and aerial transport. Dozens of
> Whoa, hold up there. The Earth doesn’t tell people, or spirits, camps suffered chemical leakages or toxic contamination,
what to do. It’s a planet. It’s just a big hunk of rock. It’s not alive!
causing hundreds of casualties and forcing us to relocate our
> Marx facilities or simply abandon them as unsalvageable. The weath-
er has even blocked satellite visibility, leaving us unable to
> I know a lot of magical theorists who would beg to differ. assess our situation from the sky above.
Gaia is most definitely alive. It may not be sentient, but it cer-
tainly has protective mechanisms to defend itself against
> I asked a meteorologist friend of mine if there was anything
attack. unusual about this storm that’s been hanging over the
> Serenity Yucatán for several weeks, and he says it’s been the talk of the
weather community. According to the wind patterns and
> I’m diverting this thread now to the Environmental other weather conditions, it should have moved on some time
Metaphysics SIG. Drop the theory; let’s get back to the hard, ago, but it’s lingering. A bunch of theories are being tossed
provable facts. around, talk about cold fronts and pressure drops, but nobody
> Captain Chaos can explain it. It’s unnatural …
“I am everywhere!”
> Nimbus

Tenaciously, some isolated pockets of rebel forces have > That’s assuming the toxics let them. At this point, the toxics
actually managed to launch a counter-offensive, using the may have the upper hand. And the Azzies aren’t necessarily
severe conditions as cover. We have lost contact with whole giving up yet either. They may have lost this round, but they’re
companies, and our base camp areas are in disarray. The steady determined to win the war.
attrition from sabotage is becoming a serious hindrance.
> Silicon Mage
> Smart move. Strike when your enemy is unbalanced. I doubt It is my assessment that we are currently unable to cope
the rebels are in any position to win at this point, but they may with the environmental conditions, remaining rebel forces and
be able to buy themselves enough time and space to regroup paranormal attacks. In addition to direct confrontations, the
and rebuild. spirit forces are using their magical powers to great effect. The
> Arctic White movement of our supply convoys and troop transports has
been slowed to a crawl through magical manipulation of the
Our divisional staff has received numerous reports of terrain. Unlikely freak accidents are damaging our relief efforts
attacks initiated on our forces by hostile spirits. Originally we and claiming lives. Units of soldiers have become lost and con-
assumed the rebels were exerting an impressive level of fused on patrol, often wandering into direct ambushes or
magical support. However, analysis of these attacks by our engaging our own forces with friendly fire. Terrified soldiers
remaining combat magicians indicates that we are being have fled our camps, sometimes sparking mass desertions.
plagued by both nature spirits and by corrupt, poisonous As a result of this situation, morale is deteriorating rapid-
toxic spirits. In at least one case, a combat mage identified a ly. Our soldiers cannot be expected to face an enemy that they
nature spirit that spontaneously manifested—it was not sum- cannot see or combat effectively.
moned by a conjurer, but appeared of its own accord. We In my opinion, our situation is rapidly becoming impossi-
also have evidence that indicates these spirits sometimes ble to hold. Major-General Salinas shares that opinion and
engage each other in combat, and the toxic spirits appear to requests permission to withdraw all units from the field to base
target rebel forces as well. My evaluation of these reports is camps, in anticipation of a rapid and complete disengagement
that we are witnessing some sort of “spirit war,” and that we from both rebel and spirit forces.
are in fact caught in the middle, where both sides target us.
In fact, the extreme nature of our campaign to eliminate the > Translation: we’re in deep drek down here, give us a hand in
rebels may have initiated this conflict. pulling ourselves out!
> GPF
> Hey, this guy’s thinking too hard. They better bust him back
down to private before he starts questioning other orders. > The Azzies may pull out, but the people of the Yucatán are
> Bung not going to leave their homes.
Do you hear the people sing?
> At least he’s bold enough to admit the truth—that the Azzies Singing a song of angry men?
brought this on themselves. The question is, can anyone save It is the music of a people
the situation, or is the Yucatán doomed to be a toxic hellhole Who will not be slaves again!
for the rest of eternity? —Les Miserables, Act I
> Snog > Zapatista
> Never underestimate the Earth’s ability to recuperate. And
don’t forget the rebels have Amazonian backing. If they were
able to save the Brazilian rainforests, they can save the Yucatán.
> Green Piece

AFTERSHOCKS
hat, you say? There’s more? Cults, SURGE, spirits, dragons, disasters and war weren’t
W enough? That’s right chummer. The bulk of the information presented in this compilation
was just the tip of the iceberg. Around the world, there have been more changes occur-
ring during this year of the comet than we could ever cram into a single file collection. And
the ones we did manage to bring to your attention will have repercussions and spin-off events
for years to come. Halley’s Comet was pressure-packed with worms.
To pique your interest, I’ve attached a few more accounts to this compilation about
other goings-on in the world. These are just a representative sample, and I’m sure you’ll find
plenty more should you go digging.
> Captain Chaos
Transmitted: 21 February 2062 at 05:57:03 (PST)
SEEDS OF REBELLION
By Siukoy
The last time I spoke to you, I told you what it was like to live in the Imperial Prefecture
of the Philippine Islands. We were one month away from holding our presidential election,
the first to be held in thirty years, and we had hoped to see the beginning of a new era for
our home. But that hope was crushed, and many of us had bitterly told ourselves that we
should have expected it; it was, after all, the Japanese corporation Fuchi that had supplied and
monitored the voting apparatus. Our candidate, Filipa Salonga, did not win the election. The
victor was Carlos Consuni of the Catholic Voters Party. This we could have accepted … if
Consuni had been the popular one amongst my people.
The cry of fraud was raised, but no revote was allowed. They feared we would riot, and
so many times it nearly did happen, but we remained quiet. In our hearts we silently vowed
that the day would come when we could revolt and oust the Hapon.
> Masaru was keeping a tight rein on the Huk. He didn’t want their anger wasted on riots and
wasteful actions that would simply be put down. He put those angry people to work, building
a monstrous powderkeg that was just waiting for the right event to detonate.
> Trot

Today, I speak to you from the new headquarters of the Life did not return entirely to normal, but we at least had
Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon on Yomi Island, and I will tell some time to repair some of the damages done. Then SURGE
you of the beginning of a free Philippines, the Republika ng struck in mid to late September. It struck indiscriminately, man-
Pilipinas. We have literally fought and died to get to this posi- ifesting in “pure” Japanese and kalapaw Filipino alike. At first,
tion, and many more lives will be lost before the battle is done, many thought it was a disease, and the hospitals were groaning
but we consider it a worthy sacrifice. Our blood has been with the sudden influx of changelings. Once it was discovered
spilled on this soil as slaves to Imperial Japan, so it is fitting that to be genetically driven, the embarrassment on the part of
it be spilled as men and women fighting for our freedom. Japanese changelings was quite keen. Most lost their jobs, their
friends, even their families, driven from their enclaves with fire
> A hard battle, indeed. While I sympathize, I can’t help but and stones—or worse, taken to Yomi, the island of the damned.
feel that all of this is just doomed to failure.
> Jinx > Imagine, if you will, thinking all your life that you were born
superior to most, that your blood was pure and free from the so-
> I can see how you got your name. Still, don’t do it; if there are called taint of metahumanity. Then think about that dear illu-
a people that deserve a little luck, it’s the Filipino. sion being ripped away as you watch yourself grow a horn, or
> Tikbalang tusks, or your eyes change to resemble a cat’s, or you get fur in
really visible and questionable areas. I saw it everywhere; the
When Halley’s Comet appeared in the sky in September, very air seemed thick with fear and pride-ripped anguish.
we took it as a sign that our time was coming, and coming > Fury
soon. What we did not count on were the things that occurred
to make this possible: the change now known as SURGE and Troubles piled upon troubles, with the absolute worst to
the many disasters that shook our world. come. In October, the Ring of Fire trembled with wrath, shak-
First came the tremors, rumblings that were not quite ing the Earth and venting fire. You may have heard the fate of
earthquakes on the islands of Palawan, Mindanao and Visayans. Imperial Japan, how the Emperor was struck down and their
Some dishes were broken, people hurt here and there in minor island was shaken to its roots. Our island also felt the rage of
accidents or panics, but nothing serious. Things like this occur the Earth. Many volcanoes erupted—Mount Canlaon on
every so often, almost as a matter of course; it is a hazard that Negros; Mount Mayon, Mount Pinatubo and Mount Taal on
all accept, since we live on the Ring of Fire. Luzon; Mount Mantalingajan on Palawan; and Mount Apo on
But then the typhoons came, one following right after the Mindanao. This upheaval created the worst disaster the
other. The wind and rain lashed at the islands, damaging Philippines have ever faced. Ash and hot gases spewed into
homes and creating an almost- deadly nuisance for any kind of the air, lava flows decimated homes and megacorp facilities
regular living. What little we can grow here was lost, the crops alike, and earthquakes added to the widespread destruction.
drowning in their little gardens. Boats and ships that imported Yamatetsu’s geothermal plants on Mounts Taal and Apo suf-
the majority of our food were blown off course, sunk or forced fered significant stresses to their machinery, their buildings
to dock elsewhere until the storms abated. And they eventual- half-covered with hot ash and rubble, and had to be shut down
ly did, allowing us to breathe a sigh of relief as we watched the before they exploded. Many areas that could be were evacu-
ships carrying food dock in our harbors. ated, the rest taking what refuge they could. Some suffocated
and died; some were crushed by their own homes or the facil-
> Lots of the poorer people, especially in the metahuman-seg- ities they had fled to; some, believing that the end was near
regated neighborhoods, starved during that time. Since a lot of and having no where left to go, simply jumped into the ocean
the food is brought in by the megas, they have to pay their and drowned.
prices, which naturally went up both during and immediately It was literally hell on earth. Panic and hysteria broke out in
after the storms. “Availability” was one reason, another one was many places. Rumors spread that certain corporations had cre-
having to pay the ships’ crews more for having worked in a dan- ated safe havens to take shelter in. Mobs stormed the grounds
gerous situation. Plausible reasons when you know economics,
of these facilities, sometimes looting and burning them down,
other times getting mowed down by security forces.
except they’ve got a virtual lock on the market in the Philippines.
> Judy
> Mitsuhama was especially vicious, racking up an impressive
body count of islanders who decided to test their security.
> Smuggling didn’t go so well then, either. On the one hand, it
was a prime business opportunity to supply people with what
> Death Angel
you know they’ll pay for, but on the other you had to be willing
to brave the storms to do it. Then you would deliver just to find
> When Mount Pinatubo erupted, my family and I had already
weathered through all of the disasters that Siukoy speaks of. We
out the people couldn’t pay and you were going to have to
were lean and hungry, our home water-soaked and barely liv-
take a loss. Only those with a heart kept the goods coming.
able, but we lived. We felt the earth rumble under our feet and
> Tanker knew that we could not survive. We fled our home, our few

treasured possessions in hand, and tried to find shelter. There > There’s a term for people like you: slum lord.
was none to be had. > Mansayagan
And then we heard that Mitsuhama had room at the
Baguio arcology. We knew it was a sound structure and could Some of our people began to raise their voices against the
shelter many, for it employed many of us to make computer Imperial governor Fukatsu Saru and the presidential puppet
parts and video games for Japanese children. Surely, we Carlos Consuni, demanding that something be done. Before,
thought, Mitsuhama would help us? we helped to calm the voices and channel the protests into
I do not know when it happened, but as we made our long-term help. Now, we stepped back. Something would
happen soon; we had been assured.
approach to the arcology, the fear began spreading and soon
Then the order came down from the Emperor of Japan. The
we became a hysterical mob, rushing towards it. My family and
Imperial Marines were to return to Japan, to assist in rebuilding
I were swept along until we were separated, even my youngest
their country. We rejoiced—the occupying army was going
daughter torn from my hands.
home! The megacorporations trembled at the news. Drastic
All I could do was watch as they were ripped to pieces, measures were implemented. Some fled the country, or took
their thin and precious bodies riddled with bullets from the guns their important projects to more secure areas. Others airlifted
that popped up out of the ground. It was a killing zone. By the in more troops, to fill the void left by the departing marines.
time some had begun to understand what was happening, it The tension grew.
was too late. For myself, with tears streaming down my cheeks, Then the Emperor rescinded the Yomi Island decree. No
I turned and fled from the smell of my family’s death. more metahumans were to be shipped to the island. All troops
I have nothing but hate in my heart for Mitsuhama. God guarding the prison colony were to be shipped out immedi-
bless the Huk. ately. Almost overnight, they were gone, leaving only a token
> Dalakitnon force of corporate security guards. For years, Yomi was the
symbol of all we had come to hate about our Imperial over-
lords. Like a chrysalis coming out of its cocoon, so did we burst
> Some Awakened creatures escaped from their prisons when
Mitsuhama’s Parashield site cracked open. Some escaped into
forth out of hiding and engage the enemy. Yomi was the first,
the best symbolic target with which to start our war. Yomi was
the wild, while others wandered into nearby settlements and
the match.
became a nuisance, scavenging dead bodies or hunting
metahumans for food.
> Cujo
As soon as it was over, we attempted to rebuild.
The devastation, however, rendered such a task nearly
impossible. People banded together and helped each
other shore up the remains of ramshackle houses, hop-
ing that it would not fall apart in the middle of the night
and crush the inhabitants. The water in many places
was unusable, or needed to be filtered and treated as it
was poisoned by the seepage from the volcanoes or
contaminated by unnamed chemicals released at the
annihilation of a corporate research facility.
Some of our people foolishly asked Imperial
Japan’s representatives and corporations for help.
These petitions for relief efforts were casually pushed
aside. Their excuse was that Japan needed to rebuild
first. The damaged corporate facilities also needed to
be repaired before they could extend aid to others.
Meanwhile, hundreds died in overcrowded and
poorly equipped hospitals. Diseases spread by mos-
quito, like malaria, flourished. Exposure and starva-
tion claimed even more.
> A pitiful sight it is to see people living in squalor and

filth. A shame we could not assist, for it is still apparent
to me that the Philippines remains in need of guid-
ance for its own good.
> Higaonna

> Ah, poetic justice. Aztlan. Not to put too fine a point on it, but they suck rat juice
> Orange Queen through a straw. In fact, things have gotten plain unfriendly.
Now, the CAS and Aztlan have been on bad terms since
2035, when the Azzies decided to take a bite out of Texas. The
> Visit sometime. We have many songs to sing and poems to border’s been a line of tension since then, occasionally explod-
recite about this day.
ing with a border guard exchange of fire, an “accidental” bor-
> Masaru der crossing by a military aircraft on maneuvers or chasing a
smuggler, and other reindeer games.
> A glorious day, even with all the blood spilled. Neither side The airspace issue became a big deal when the CAS invad-
escaped unscathed, but what was left of the corporate secu- ed the Aztlan sector of Denver. The Azzies had no way to safe-
rity forces ran from the island, eventually. We overran them, our ly fly in reinforcements, and both sides dug in even further
arnis making deadly use of their sticks, our kris swords and care- behind their respective dotted lines.
fully rationed guns flashing and blazing. Many Huk used their The airspace issue is old news, now, but the current fire
divinely-given gifts as well, raining fire upon the faithless and under the kettle is burning strong. In the past few months,
healing their comrades. there’s been an increase in the number of “civilian” border
> Arimaonga incursions along the Texas/Aztlan border, primarily from the
Texas side. Civilian militias in Texas are a fact of life, but some-
The battle was long, bloody and very hard-fought, but in thing that’s new is how organized they’re becoming. A lot of
the end, we won. We have shown the Imperial Governor and them have been getting help from a group called the Sons of
the rest of the Japanese that we will not be meek and mildly the Alamo, an outfit that’s been contributing gigapulses to
accepting of what they have us do. We have shown that we are Azziewatch lately. Our research hasn’t turned up much, but
willing to fight and die in order to free ourselves, our friends here’s what we know about these hombres.
and our families. No more will we cower under the shadow of The Sons of the Alamo started out as a small, local-inter-
the Empire or the long shadows cast by the Japanese mega- est policlub back in 2047, with a couple of dozen members
corporations. Our war has just begun. who met outside of Fort Worth. According to their
charter/manifesto, they’re dedicated to reclaiming the land
> He’s not kidding. The Huk are rising up all over the islands. stolen by Aztlan back in the mid 2030s. Though they were
They’ve already seized some areas and turned them into cor- originally located only in Texas, a quick check through a few
porate no-go zones, like Yomi. The Imperial Governor has gone databases shows that there are chapters in every state in the
into fits and the corps are scrambling to protect what’s theirs. CAS, though naturally the highest concentration of their mem-
Revolution is in the air! bership is in the Lone Star State.
> Fury Until recently, their operations were limited to fairly standard
methods of political pressure: lobbying, email campaigns to CAS
> Yeah, but things aren’t gonna stay like that forever. and Aztlan government officials of all stripes, rallies, that sort of
Governments and megacorporations bounce back quicker thing. Apparently, they got tired of complaining to figureheads
than a troll on Kamikaze. They have contingency plans for this who never listened, and opted for a more direct course of action.
sort of thing, not to mention the military might to take on a
Right when the Denver fiasco was in full swing, the core cadre of
the Sons of the Alamo went underground. Poof. Overnight, at
bunch of rabble with sticks in their hands. Watch your hoop,
least twenty hard-core Texans took to the shadows.
because they’ll be back in force.
For a month or so, nothing happened. Then the propa-
> Vet ganda blitz began. Several Matrix nodes were vandalized with
messages advocating a military campaign against Aztlan to
> The Huk have some aces up their sleeve as well, not the least retake Texas land. Then a Sons of the Alamo pirate trid station
of which is that big fraggin’ dragon Masaru. I agree that plan- hit the airwaves, followed by flyer drops and other unconven-
ning a rebellion and carrying it out are two separate things, but tional agitprop. Rumors spread through Azziewatch that the
if anyone’s got a shot at succeeding, my cred is on the Huk. Sons of the Alamo were sponsoring several training camps for
> Dark Horse militias that wanted to take the fight to Aztlan. These camps
must have been in action for a while already, because soon
>Hey, with all the casualties from the natural disasters and the afterward, the first strike came.
revolution, does anyone know if they’re getting a big problem The Sons of the Alamo made headlines after claiming
with their, uh, dead rising up again? responsibility for an attack on an Aztlan military supply depot
> Bardiche in San Antonio. Just a few days later, an Aztlan listening post
just a few kilometers from the border took a barrage of rockets
RUN TO THE BORDER that left it in ruins. The third attack was made on an Aztlan mil-
by Corona itary commander, assassinated by an armed drone while out
Now that Aztlan has been booted out of Denver, you might walking his dog.
be wondering about recent relations between the CAS and

Aztlan has been up in arms about the attacks, condemn- gion/cult known as the Children of the Dragon, who claimed
ing the CAS for being unable to restrain its own terrorist all sweetness and light to be their province, has turned
groups. Several thinly veiled threats imply that a retaliatory bloody and nasty on us. To say that this is a serious turn of
strike against the CAS will be in order if the Sons of the Alamo events is understating the truth of the matter slightly, but my
strike again. dear readers out there probably won’t grasp why without a
little backstory.
> And that’s exactly the response the SOA wanted. If they get When we last left our beloved dragon groupies, they were
the Azzies to retaliate, the CAS will be forced to retaliate as well, busily opening new créches across the continent, building tem-
and pretty soon the whole mess will escalate into a full-on war. ples and secretly waging a war against “dark forces” on the sly.
> Wholly Rollins The church, a term I use only because the CotD had technical-
ly gotten too big to classify as a cult, was branching out in all
directions under the leadership of Dragonson, the originator
> I hear that some CAS military officers are quite happy at the
and “prophet” who brought the group to pass. The CotD had
turn of events. They’re publicly sympathetic to the SOA’s goals
inevitably gotten organized enough to have an internal struc-
and they’ve been itching for a good reason to lob some heavy
ture, which consisted of créches (or congregations), temples,
ordnance over the border. This might be the excuse they’re
regional administration and national administration.
looking for.
> Texas 2-Step > Most of the people at the regional level have been with the
El Paso: Never surrender. Never forgive. Never forget. church since the beginning, with many of the ones on the east
coast being founding members of the church along with
> With the troop pullbacks Aztlan has been forced to make Dragonson.
because of the Yucatan situation, the SOA might be able to
> Sister Goldenhair
cause them some hurt along the border. We might actually get
some of our land back. At the national level stands a board of elders, led by
> Fuzzdog Dragonson, who determine the direction of the church and
arrange budgets for branch locations and charitable works
> We’ll finish the rebellion in the south, and then we’ll reclaim nationwide. The board itself consists of eleven people, three of
our losses in the north. Don’t be so smug as to think you’ll whom are elected by the membership of the church.
reclaim what is rightfully ours. In any group larger than five people, politics is a forgone
conclusion. In a group that spans a continent, simple poli-
> El Guerrero del Águila
ticking can turn into a career. This is particularly apt in the
case of Joshua Morningstar, formerly Joshua Keller. Brother
> Blow it out your hoop, featherbreath. Morningstar was a liberal arts major out of the University of
You want to know the best thing the SOA has done in the
Virginia when he joined the church. He campaigned for
last few weeks? It’s not training the militia units. It’s the pride
Dunkelzahn early on in the race, but was dismissed after get-
they’re stirring up here in Texas. Even people who aren’t a part ting into physical altercations with supporters of Brackhaven.
of the policlub are walking around with their heads up, talking Keller continued his practice of “in your face” politics by
about the Republic again. And meaning it, too, from the working with aggressive anti-Humanis organizations, Terra
sounds of things. First! and other fringe groups. Repeated run-ins with the law
> Lone Star Rising seemed to only increase his fervor, but his interest was scat-
tered across a wide group of causes. At least, until the CotD
> Republic of Texas—didn’t we try that once? That, for some rea- came along.
son, scares me more than the troop movements on the border.
> Riggs > Keller’s Lone Star record is impressive, btw. More than once
he’s taken a firearm to a fistfight and pulled it out when it
CHILDREN OF THE DRAGON, UPDATE seemed like things weren’t going his way. Before he ran into the
by Deprogrammer CotD, he was just a nasty character with supposedly higher
“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “to talk of many ideals, none of which involved feeling bad about putting some-
things. Of sailing ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and one in the hospital. He stayed out of trouble after joining the
kings.” And dragons. And those who would be both dragons church, but he kept up with all his old buddies in the shadow
and kings, all at once. And those who would give their lives at communities.
the command of a lunatic.
> Buzz
I hope you’ll pardon the Lewis Carroll quote, but that’s
about what I feel like lately when I’m trying to comprehend
the reality behind the mess that’s popped up in major
> The only reason he didn’t try to solve everything with his guns
was that there was someone behind the scenes keeping him in
sprawls across the UCAS. That up-and-coming church/reli-
check. When he joined up, he was seen all the time with a

blonde in the background, pretty girl, the kind that knows when > That’s not entirely correct. During his episode he exhibited a
to keep quiet. Now all of a sudden the girl is gone. Wonder high fever, which broke only hours before his awakening. Prior
where she went? Any comments, Sister Goldenhair? to the episode, he had shown signs of disorientation,
> Friar Tuck headache and vomiting. The one brainscan he submitted to
following the episode showed unusual brain activity in line with
> None that I’d bother putting in print. a diagnosis of viral encephalitis.
> Sister Goldenhair > Nursie
Morningstar’s rise within the CotD was quick, even within > Then why isn’t that what’s on his medical records? And why
such a rapidly growing enterprise. He quickly gained a reputa- isn’t he deteriorating if he does have encephalitis that hasn’t
tion as someone who was willing to sacrifice anything for the
been treated?
beliefs and goals of the church, and his significant charisma and
impressive public speaking skills endeared him to his créche.
> Doc Faustus
Donations went up significantly after he began to stump for the
> Because the nuyen is mightier than the Hippocratic Oath, for
créche’s soup kitchens, a talent which caught the eye of the
one. As to the second, I’ll admit that I don’t know. Perhaps he
regional president. He arranged for Morningstar’s rise to
is being treated. Perhaps it was simply a mild case. Perhaps the
prominence (all astronomical jokes aside) and sent him on
magical healing did do something for him. Unfortunately, he’s
numerous fundraising and diplomatic appeals. Morningstar
shown no signs of wanting to come in and be treated, and his
threw himself into his calling, and by the end of 2060 he’d
achieved such a high level of visibility that he was a shoe-in for followers are rather resistant to the idea that his divine vision
an elected board position. was nothing more than fever-induced delirium.
It didn’t take long for Dragonson to notice such a poten- > Nursie
tially bright protegé, and soon they were nearly inseparable.
While the board has always been kinda chummy, this type of > Or just maybe Morningstar is divinely inspired and you’re out
singling-out hadn’t occurred before. Nobody complained, to discredit him. The signs are there if you’ll only see them.
though, and soon Morningstar became thought of as the sec- Ghostwalker is Dunkelzahn reborn, returned from death to lead
ond-in-command, a sort of “heir to the Dragon Throne.” The mankind into a new age of glory.
combination of the two most magnetic personalities in modern > Brother Starfire
religion apparently struck a chord with people, and thus you
get the last six months of unforeseen growth and prosperity, Once he was released, Morningstar called Dragonson
due in no small part to attracting some very influential, very on the phone and a meeting of the board was called. In that
wealthy Hollywood and DeeCee converts. meeting, Morningstar claimed that it was revealed to him
that Ghostwalker was the savior of mankind. This declaration
met with stiff opposition, not the least of which came from
> Word is there was even a movie deal in the works, to star
Dragonson himself. Apparently Dragonson, along with the
Dragonson and Morningstar as themselves in a film based on the
majority of the board, was highly opposed to worshipping
dragon’s teachings. It fell through when the church split, though.
any one dragon, having based his religion on the codes
> Angel which the dragon had left. He and Morningstar argued vehe-
So here we are: new temples are being planned, money is mently, before Morningstar burst out of the room and
pouring in, and everyone is happy. Until Ghostwalker shows stormed off.
up, that is. Within forty-eight hours, the word had spread, due in no
That Christmas Eve emergence threw a dragon-sized mon- small part to Morningstar’s efforts to draw power and follow-
key wrench in the plans of the faithful, and here’s why. ers to himself in a bid to take over the church. He slapped
Following the chaos in Denver, Morningstar collapsed while in together a trid statement of his revelation of faith and had it
a board meeting. Doctors were summoned, magical healing broadcast on national TV, pulling in a few favors from friends in
was tried, but nothing seemed to rouse him and no one could the entertainment industry. Dragonson took it in stride at first,
figure out what was wrong. He remained in that unconscious issuing his own trid statement stating that Ghostwalker was
state for three days before waking up in his hospital bed and indeed another dragon, but no more a messiah than any other
calling for his clothes. of dragonkind.
> The doctors reported a possible stroke, but they had no idea > Dragonson tried to contact Morningstar the day of the trid
release, but Joshua refused to talk to him. There’s been no
what was really going on. Keller has no history of heart trouble,
communication between them since.
and the tests he’s submitted to since then, including MRI’s and
other imaging, show no signs of residual damage. > Sister Goldenhair
> Doc Faustus

Morningstar then issued a press release calling all true
members of the church to stage a march against the DeeCee > Declaring the center of a faith off-limits for a militant faction
temple, to wrest control of it from the leaders. On the day of of said faith hardly ever makes for peaceful times. I wonder
the march, Morningstar turned up with something like four what Dragonson thought he was doing.
hundred members of the local créches, most of them original- > Sandstorm
ly street converts. Dragonson stopped him at the property line,
backed by the temple’s security forces plus some volunteers. Morningstar’s people have since been involved in gunfire
Dragonson tried speaking to the crowds to make them battles against temple guards at each of the sites, staging a kind
disperse, but someone (the identity of the individual has not of guerrilla siege. Clashes against Dragonson créches have
been determined) cast a confusion spell of some sort in order occurred regularly in almost every sprawl in the UCAS, with the
to disrupt Dragonson’s speech. It was quickly dispelled, but it latest atrocity being a bombing in Seattle where a family of four
sparked a riot in response that caused one death and sent fif- was killed. Many of Morningstar’s followers are active or former
teen to the hospital. Créches across the nation met in response shadowrunners or other criminals, people accustomed to using
to the crisis, and chaos reigned across the nation as the main force to solve problems. Within weeks, Morningstar has accu-
temples fell under siege and créches fought against each other mulated what amounts to a fanatical army of individuals deter-
according to their own alliances. mined to capture the physical and spiritual centers of their faith.
Clashes have occurred all across the nation, even going so far as
> Morningstar cast that spell to prevent his people from falling to physically damage the Prince Edward Island temple itself.
back under the leadership of Dragonson. This is, according to all definitions, a holy war. And as
> Anon such, the people involved don’t really care who gets hurt,
especially Morningstar’s faction. These clashes get as bloody
> Morningstar has no magical talent. It couldn’t have been as any gang battle you’ve ever had the misfortune to get
him. caught in, and word is that even bombing rival créche sites
isn’t out of the question for Joshua’s kids. So you can now con-
> Mystic
sider yourself informed and forewarned. If you’ve got a loved
one on either side of the dispute, I’d highly encourage you to
> Scanned him since the episode? I think you’d be surprised at encourage them to put a little distance between themselves
what you see.
and their religion right now. It might keep everyone alive just
> Brother Starfire that much longer.
> Bulldrek. Just because it happed with Dragonson doesn’t

> Any word from Ghostwalker on what he thinks of
mean it happens to every two-bit Jamestown wanna-be. Morningstar’s claim?
> Abyssinia > Fetish
In the end, it fell out something like this. Most of the
established members of the church held to Dragonson and the > Word is that Morningstar was one of the first to petition the
original tenets of the church, particularly those who had dragon after Ghostie’s state of the union address. No one
achieved some position. All but one board member and all of seems to know for sure what came of it, but Morningstar’s fol-
the regional heads declared their loyalty to Dragonson almost lowers managed to seize the Denver temple and transform it
immediately, leaving him in charge of the center of the faith, into their main headquarters. Ghostwalker hasn’t made any
the temples. Dragonson capitalized on this by declaring that all public statements about the violence.
those who left the faith to follow Morningstar were banned > Denver Lowdown
from the temples until they returned to the church. This deci-
sion turned the temple areas into a sort of warzone, because > If you were a dragon, would you dismiss a devoted cult of fol-
many of the créches—particularly those with active street min- lowers who hang on your every word?
istries—joined Morningstar. > Sith

GAME INFORMATION
he events of Year of the Comet will permanently alter the world of Shadowrun. Just when
T everyone thought the Awakening was buried in the past, along comes the comet to rat-
tle the world and remind everyone that the universe still has a lot of surprises up its
sleeve. While the comet itself is simply a symbol, the events that accompany it are quite
real, and are likely to have an effect on all characters in the world of Shadowrun.
This chapter provides the gamemaster with all of the background info and rules he or she
will need to use this book.
HOW TO USE YEAR OF THE COMET

The best way to use Year of the Comet in a Shadowrun campaign is to build up to it, work-
ing in the events slowly over time. The Year of the Comet Timeline on p. 136 provides a
chronological breakdown of the major events. As the year 2061 opens, the hype surrounding
the comet will begin to seep into the media on all levels. Scientists will debate on the comet’s
nature and impact, religious groups will seek to recruit, protect or whip up their flocks, all sorts
of cults and creepies will crawl out the woodwork and corps and politicians will use the hype
to cover up their nefarious activities. The corporate probe race will begin in earnest, sparking
off advertising campaigns, comet and probe-related products and corporate nationalism. Even
on the street, the comet will be a topic of chitchat in bars and clubs, and some survivalist types
may be making preparations for world disorder. No character will be able to access the Matrix,
watch the trid or read a screamsheet without seeing something relating to the comet or probe
race. This publicity overload should begin to grate on even the most gullible trend-followers,
working up their cynicism just in time to smash it apart with SURGE.
When SURGE strikes, the initial response will be widespread panic. Paranoia will reign
supreme as nobody knows who will ”express” next, or what the actual results might be. Fear
will lead to xenophobia, hatred will lead to riots, culminating in worldwide riots similar to the
Night of Rage. And SURGE will just be the first event. Natural disasters, magical fluctuations,
Ghostwalker, the shedim, war and revolution will batter the planet, one after another.
Characters in a campaign can easily become caught up in these events, either through
personal involvement or through a job offer. For example, one of the characters may under-
go SURGE, or may learn that their dead parents’ bodies have been stolen by shedim. The run-

YEAR OF THE COMET TIMELINE
2061
January Comet hype begins.
January–September The first leg of the “Probe Race,” as the space megacorps compete to be the first to send a probe
to the comet. One by one, each probe falls victims to accident or sabotage.
August Typhoons batter the Philippines.
September Halley’s Comet becomes visible to the naked eye.
Mana storms and other magical disturbances increase in frequency and potency around the
world; fluctuations and disturbances are noted in the Dunkelzahn Rift; astral space becomes
visible within the vicinity of the Wuxing HQ in Hong Kong.
Sharon Wu gives birth to quintuplets.
Wuxing discovers and secretly begins mining natural orichalcum deposits.
September 4 The first reported cases of SURGE express.
Ibn Eisa, leader of the Islamic Unity Movement, is assassinated.
September 9 Ibn Eisa rises from the dead, proclaims a New Islamic Jihad.
September 10 SURGE sweeps the globe, continues at a regular pace.
September 12 Paranoia about SURGE sparks riots, attacks and urban unrest.
October SURGE backlash continues in full swing, with riots and attacks on metahumans.
October 27 The Ring of Fire erupts; Japan is smitten with volcanic eruptions and tidal waves; the Bay Area is
trampled by an earthquake; six volcanic eruptions and an earthquake wreck the Philippines;
many other PacRim areas are also devastated.
October 29 The Japanese Diet orders the withdrawal of Imperial troops from foreign soil to assist with
disaster relief and to rebuild Japan.
November Halley’s Comet temporarily disappears from view.
General Saito refuses the Diet’s withdrawal order, staging a military coup in San Francisco backed
by loyal troops and Japanese megacorps. Saito’s troops quickly move into the Central Valley,
seizing Sacramento and key sites.
Ares moves troops in to defend Silicon Valley.
November 1 Ancestor spirits warn of the “return of the dead.”
November 27 The news of the discovery of natural orichalcum deposits sparks an Orichalcum Rush.
December 2 An earthquake demolishes LA; walls go down, riots and looting sweep the city.
December 8 The Pueblo Corporate Council moves in troops, seizing LA and the outlying areas.
December 24 The astral form of Ghostwalker breaks through the Dunkelzahn Rift, followed by a wave of spirits;
Ghostwalker appears in Denver, destroying the Aztlan teocalli and rampaging through the city;
the dragon wages a guerrilla warfare campaign against the city in the weeks that follow.
The first reported “zombie” (shedim) attack occurs; many more are reported in the weeks that
follow.
December 25 Ghostwalker secretly meets with Aina Dúpree and Nadja Daviar of the Draco Foundation, as well
as SilveryK (the Nexus) and Ryan Mercury (Assets, Inc.).
2062
January The CAS offers a bounty for magicians who reanimate corpses.
Aztlan moves military troops into their sector in Denver in direct violation of the Treaty of Denver;
the other sectors also reinforce their borders with troops.
January 3 The new child Emperor of Japan is announced to the world.
January 27 The Council of Denver meets with Ghostwalker; Ghostwalker is given control of the city; Aztlan is
kicked out of Denver; CAS troops invade the Aztlan sector.
February The Emperor rescinds the Yomi Island decree; the Huk openly declare revolution in the Philippines.
February 5 Aztlan/Aztechnology military forces start slash and burn of Yucatán.
March Halley’s Comet becomes visible to the naked eye again.
March 15 An earthquake, tidal waves and storms batter the Yucatán, halting the Aztlan offensive; in the
weeks that follow, nature and toxic spirits wage warfare against both sides and each other.
April Halley’s Comet disappears from view.
All known natural orichalcum deposits run dry; no new deposits are located.
New SURGE cases decrease to a trickle.

ners may be hired to extract the lead engineer of a space probe
team, or rescue an important official from the natural disaster
that strikes Japan. The constant changes in the world will pull
on people’s emotions and loyalties, impacting the characters in
small ways as one of their contacts joins a comet cult or
decides to join the revolution in the Philippines. The gamemas-
ter can pick and choose what storylines to draw the characters
into, or let them plot their own course by presenting a variety
of options as the world changes around them. Alternately, the
events described here can merely serve as a muted back-
ground noise, a chaotic backdrop as the runners carry on with
their lives.
The events described in this book raise a number of ques-
tions. Who sabotaged Novatech’s Whipple probe? What are
the true goals of the Church of Undying Light? Who is the
power behind the Japanese throne? Can Wuxing really use feng
shui to find orichalcum deposits? What are the shedim, and
why have they come here? Who will win the second round of that produced orks and trolls, SURGE is a byproduct of the
the probe race? Who is Ghostwalker, what does he want, and slowly rising level of ambient mana in the Sixth World. Just as
where the hell has he been? The answers to these questions with the effects of the first Awakening, SURGE is a wakeup call
and many more are up to the gamemaster to decide, as appro- that says the world is still transforming, and the wild ride to the
priate for his or her game. Some of them may be answered in future is just beginning.
future Shadowrun products, others may forever remain a mys- Unlike UGE and Goblinization, SURGE has not created
tery, open to interpretation and speculation. entirely new species of metahumanity (though the situation
with other critters seems to be different). Instead, SURGE
RUNNING THE PROBE RACE merely seems to have brought out more variants and differen-
The probe race is the perfect scenario to introduce charac- tiations—or as some would view them, mutations. A person
ters into the Year of the Comet plotline. As described on pp. who is stricken by SURGE does not transform into a new crea-
13–21, a slew of corps are involved in the competition. From ture, he simply manifests a new set of features or abilities that
advertising agencies to research labs to launch pads to control did not express previously. SURGE effects are permanent; a
centers, the probe race offers a slew of job opportunities for person who has undergone SURGE—known as a
shadowrunners. “changeling”—will never return to his unaltered self.
The gamemaster may choose to have the characters In reality, the actual percentage of those affected by
become involved in the first leg of the probe race, perhaps SURGE in the world of Shadowrun is quite small—less than 1
having a hand in one of the events described in the news arti- percent. However, because SURGE coincides with the appear-
cles about the demise of each probe. Alternately, the ance of Halley’s Comet, and the previous waves of UGE and
gamemaster can craft an adventure around the second leg of Goblinization had such a large impact on the world, the SURGE
the race, which is bound to be a much more desperate race. All phenomenon plays directly into the fears and prejudices of an
of the corps involved lost face on the first round, and they are already agitated populace. The first cases of SURGE are hyped
each concerned about salvaging their public image by winning so strongly by the media, and harped upon so furiously by
the second round. The second round is also the last chance any Humanis and other fear-mongers, that SURGE becomes the
of the corps will have—if they lose, they’re out of the race for spark that lights the powderkeg.
good. The stakes will be high as some corps are eliminated,
bringing pressure to bear on the few that remain. SURGE IN YOUR CAMPAIGN
Several probes still survive from the first leg of the probe The advent of SURGE in your campaign should come slow-
race and have a chance to win during the second: Ares’ Gigas ly. During the first few days of September 2061, the media will
and Velox probes, Proteus’ Götterbote, Shibata’s Kepler, note the few early, isolated incidents, but they will be treated
Yamatetsu’s Gagarin and the probes constructed by Trans- as anomalies in an already bizarre world. When SURGE kicks in
Orbital and Hisato-Turner. Other corporations, such as Saeder- strongly on September 10, 2061, it will be headline news. Fear
Krupp, Novatech and Shiawase must construct new probes to and panic will break out as everyone begins to worry about a
compete in the second half of the race. There is also the possi- new wave of “comet-influenced Goblinization.” Humanis will
bility that other corps may try their hand that didn’t have a seize the situation, whipping up a furor about plagues and
chance during the first round. mutations. Demonstrations turn into riots, changelings are
shunned and attacked, thousands flee the metroplex, and for a
few days the world threatens to plunge into chaos. Then the
SURGE balance restores itself, though incidents of violence and may-
Like the wave of Unexplained Genetic Expression (UGE) hem still break out over the next few months.
that produced dwarfs and elves, and the wave of Goblinization

SURGE AND CHARACTERS Characters who express obvious SURGE characteristics
For Shadowrun players, SURGE is a way to give a charac- may well become the target of racist attacks or prejudice (see
ter a distinctive trait, look or ability—something that makes the SURGE and Social Interaction, p. 143). The gamemaster can use
characters different, so they stand out and have that extra bit this to introduce new enemies and antagonists, or even to
of flash. As a game mechanic, SURGE is not intended to have draw the character into new adventures. Likewise, SURGE has
a drastic effect on gameplay—it creates no new races, no new a certain “sexy” appeal to certain subcultures, and changelings
superpowers and is unlikely to even have a direct impact on are glamorized, idolized and even imitated in some social
most player characters. Though it certainly has an effect on the scenes. The gamemaster can use this phenomenon to intro-
world setting and may play a role in certain plotlines, SURGE is duce new allies, friends or fans, or even to engulf the character
intended to have only a minor effect on the characters them- into a new “glamorous” lifestyle.
selves. The changes brought about by SURGE are primarily win-
dow dressing—they add a new layer of conceptual differences New Characters and SURGE
and allow new tweaks for role-playing. If new characters are being introduced into a Shadowrun
Note that mundane human characters who lack implants are game that is set after September of 2061, the gamemaster may
the most likely to become changelings—they roughly have a 15 choose to allow them to be SURGE-affected. There are two
percent chance of doing so. Awakened characters, metahumans ways this can be done. Either the gamemaster has each new
and other character types are much less likely to express. The character make a SURGE Test just as existing characters did, or
percentage of play- else he allows char-
er characters who acters to take on
will change is signif- SURGE Positive and
icantly higher than SURGE TEST TABLE Negative Effects the
the actual percent- same as if they were
ages of SURGE Character Modifier choosing Edges and
expression in the Awakened +(Magic rating ÷ 2, round up) Flaws (see p. 15,
fictional Shadowrun Metahuman SRComp). If the lat-
population world- Dwarf, Elf, Ork, Troll +2 ter method is used,
wide—this is inten- Metahuman Variant (ie., a gnome) +3 the gamemaster
tional. After all, the Albino +4 should apply a fee
percentage of Otaku +4 of 5 Building Points
Awakened charac- Infected (with HMHVV) +5 to new characters
ters is significantly Shapeshifter +6 that wish to become
higher than the per- changelings; a char-
centage of acter should not be
Awakened in the allowed to take
Shadowrun world, and the real fun with SURGE is being able to Positive or Negative SURGE Effects without paying this cost.
roleplay it from an affected character’s point of view.
THE SURGE TEST
Existing Characters To determine if a character is affected by SURGE, the char-
If a gamemaster uses Year of the Comet in his campaign, acter makes an Essence (12) Test. Apply any appropriate target
he will need to decide whether or not to “inflict” SURGE upon number modifiers from the SURGE Test Table. For characters with
existing player characters. A gamemaster can certainly partial Essence scores, round Essence up. Characters with a vari-
choose to decree that SURGE will not affect any player char- able Essence (such as vampires), cyberzombies or any character
acters in his game, or he can even go the opposite route and with an Essence of 0 or less cannot be affected by SURGE.
decide that it must affect each of the characters. We recom- Karma may not be used on the SURGE Test.
mend that, like life itself, the chance of a player character
undergoing SURGE be random. Determine SURGE Severity
Using the random method, the gamemaster should have If a character scored any successes on the SURGE Test, he
each character make a SURGE Test. If a character is struck by undergoes SURGE and becomes a changeling. The character
SURGE, the gamemaster should choose the most dramatic rolls 1D6 and adds 2 for each additional success scored on the
possible moment for the change to occur. Not every character SURGE Test past the first. The result is the number of points of
needs to be stricken by SURGE in September of 2061—many Negative SURGE Effects the character acquires. The character
changelings do not manifest changes until months later. The then makes an identical 1D6 roll (with the same modifier of +2
transformation itself may be drastic and sudden, or may take per additional success) to determine how many Positive SURGE
place slowly over the course of days or even weeks. Effect points he acquires.
Depending upon the severity of the changes, the character If the gamemaster allows it, a character may spend 5 Good
may even be hospitalized or forced to go through a period of Karma points to re-roll either of these 1D6 rolls. The results of
physical and/or emotional trauma and adjustment. the second roll are final, and must be used.

SURGE EFFECTS Bio-Rejection (–5/–2 for Awakened characters)
All SURGE Effects are divided into two categories: Similar to the Bio-Rejection Flaw (see p. 19, SRComp), the
Negative and Positive. Each also has a Point value. Like the sys- character’s body completely rejects all cyberware (including
tem of Edges and Flaws (see p. 15, SRComp), Positive SURGE nano-implants but not nanoware) and non-cultured bioware
Effects have positive values and Negative Effects have negative implants. If the character already has implants when the SURGE
values. Unlike Edges and Flaws, however, a character’s Positive takes place, he will slowly become ill and then incapacitated
and Negative SURGE points are unlikely to balance out and over a period of (Body) days as his body begins to reject the
equal zero. implants. If the character is not hospitalized and does not have
When a character undergoes SURGE, the gamemaster may the implants removed within Body x 2 days, he will die.
allow him to choose what Positive and Negative Effects he
picks up. Alternately, the gamemaster can make the entire Chronic Osteocuspus (–10)
process as random as nature, and instruct the player to roll on One of the most hideous SURGE effects, a character struck
the Random SURGE Effects Tables (p. 142). with this effect goes through a period of agonizing pain as
Some SURGE effects cannot be applied to certain charac- razor-sharp bony deposits erupt from the skeletal structure and
ters, as noted in the description—have the player roll again or puncture through the skin. In other words, the character
choose another effect. sprouts bony spikes all over his body. Victimized characters are
incapacitated by the pain of this event, and must suffer through
NEGATIVE SURGE EFFECTS a customization period of (10 – Willpower) weeks until they get
Each of the SURGE Effects below has a negative value list- used to the constant level of pain caused by the thorny protru-
ed in parentheses. Any effects the SURGE expression may have sions. During this period the character suffers a +4 modifier to
in gameplay are noted in the description. all actions due to the pain. (At the gamemaster’s discretion,
pain-alleviating drugs, powers or implants may decrease this
Altered Eye Color (–1) modifier, but they may also increase the acclimation period.)
The character’s irises, whites or possibly even the entire Besides being somewhat hideous to look at, characters
eyes change to an unusual and distinctive color. For exam- with chronic osteocuspus cannot wear armor or restrictive
ple, a character may acquire bright green irises, both eyes clothing because the protruding bone spurs make it too
may turn to a light silver color, or one eye may turn white uncomfortable. Specially designed armor and clothing must be
and one black. Many onlookers will simply assume the char- purchased, at a 50 percent increase in base cost.
acter has cybereyes. Altered eye color has no effect on the Over time, characters with this affliction become accus-
character’s vision. tomed to living with pain, and so they gain the equivalent of
This effect cannot be applied to a character with cybereyes the Pain Resistance adept power (see p. 170, SR3) at level 3.
or bioware cat’s eyes. It is not compatible with the feline eyes However, these characters also heal more slowly, and auto-
effect (p. 141). matically gain the slow healer effect (p. 140) at no additional
value. The bony thorns also make the character slightly more
Altered Skin Coloration (–1 or –2) dangerous in unarmed combat. Add +1 to the Power of any
The character’s skin changes to an unusual color, either unarmed attacks.
entirely or just in certain areas of the body. For example, a black The bony spikes may be surgically removed (or even
character’s hands, feet and face may turn Caucasian, a Caucasian painfully trimmed), but they grow back over an agonizing two-
character may acquire brown leopard spots across his neck, week period during which the character will suffer a +2 modi-
shoulder and arms, or a character’s skin may turn entirely orange fier to all actions.
or red like an oni. The value of this effect depends on how visi- This effect cannot be applied to a character with dermal
ble it is, and how strongly it may affect a character’s chances of sheathing.
being noticed, recognized or encountering prejudice.
This effect cannot be applied to a character with dermal Critter Spook (–1)
sheathing, chloroplast skin or bioware skin pigmentation. Something about the character’s presence or smell now
seems threatening to animals and paranormal critters. Any ani-
Astral Hazing (–5) mals within the vicinity of the character will react with fear and
A character inflicted with this unusual effect gradually cor- hostility (apply a +2 modifier to attempts to control, soothe or
rupts the mana around him, creating a background count (see pacify them). If drawn into combat, the critters will go out of
p. 83, MITS) wherever he goes. If the character remains in a their way to attack this character first, before any other targets.
single location for over an hour, the locale will develop a back-
ground count of 1. Over time, this count may increase up to a Cyclops (–4)
value equal to the character’s Essence ÷ 2 (round down to a The eyes of a character who expresses this SURGE effect
minimum of 1). This background count affects magic on both will wither and “heal up” as if they never existed (cybereyes
the physical and astral planes. The increased Background Count will be purged from the user’s system). A single new eye will
will fade about an hour after the character leaves. express directly above the nose, with the same natural vision
This effect cannot be applied to Awakened characters. abilities as the character’s previous eyes. The character will suf-

fer from a lack of depth perception with only one eye, and so character may still perceive depth with one eye closed. Even
will suffer a +2 target number modifier to all ranged attacks. when the third eye is closed, an onlooker can detect its pres-
ence with a Perception (4) Test.
Dual Natured (–10/–5 for Awakened characters)
This unfortunate person becomes permanently attuned to Tusks (–1)
the astral plane, effectively becoming dual natured. This condi- A character struck by this effect grows small tusks from his
tion can never be turned off. Like other dual natured entities, lower jaw, similar to those of an ork or troll. These tusks slight-
the character can affect and be affected by astral objects (such ly impede the character’s speech.
as wards) and astral forms (spirits, projecting magicians and so This effect cannot be applied to orks and trolls.
forth). This means the character is vulnerable to the power of
possession as well as astral attack, though he may defend him- Unusual Hair (–1 or –2)
self using standard astral combat rules. On the plus side, the The character’s hair either changes to an unusual color or
dual natured person can now learn the Aura Reading skill. texture, or grows from his body in unusual patterns or areas.
If the character afflicted with this SURGE effect is For example, a character’s hair may suddenly turn naturally vio-
Awakened, they can still astrally project and leave their mun- let, or he may sprout a lion-like mane from his head down his
dane body behind. However, as soon as they return they shoulders and back, or he may be entirely covered in fur, like a
become dual natured again. bear or a Night One elven metavariant. The value of this effect
depends on how visible it is and how strongly it may affect a
Feathers (–1 or –2) character’s chances of being noticed, recognized or encounter-
The character sprouts feathers which either replace her ing prejudice.
regular body hair and/or cover other parts of her body. These This effect is not compatible with the feathers effect.
feathers may be fine and downy (and water-resistant to a
degree, like a duck’s) or fluffy and vibrant. The value of this Vestigial Tail (–1)
effect depends on how visible it is, and how strongly it may A short, stumpy tail grows from the user’s lower back, at
affect a character’s chances of being noticed, recognized or the base of the spine. This tail may be scaly (like a lizard), hairy
encountering prejudice. (like a dog) or hairless (like a rat). Unlike the long tail effect
Feathers offer no protective value. (see p. 141), the vestigial tail provides no bonuses for balance.
The tail may be wagged slightly with effort. The character will
Pointed Ears (–1) need to have his clothing tailored to accommodate the tail,
A human who gains this effect manifests elongated and and he will find it uncomfortable to sit in certain positions for
pointed ears, just like an elf or other metahuman. This allows long periods.
the character to pass as an elf if he chooses. However, elf NPCs
who discover this deception may treat the poser with hostility Flaws as Negative Effects
and contempt. In addition to the SURGE Effects listed above, the follow-
This effect cannot be applied to non-human characters. ing Flaws are also available as Negative Effects, using the same
negative value (see Edges and Flaws, p. 15, SRComp): Allergy
Scales (–1 or –2) (–2 to –5), Color Blind (–1), Low Pain Tolerance (–4), Night
The character expresses scaly skin, similar to a lizard or Blindness (–2/–1), Weak Immune System (–1), Sensitive Neural
snake, over his body. The scales may cover his entire body or Structure (–2/–4), Simsense Vertigo (–2/–4), Astral Impressions
only certain sections. The scales might grow in certain patterns, (–2) or Spirit Bane (–2).
or may even appear in unusual colors (such as bright red,
turquoise blue and green). The character will also periodically POSITIVE SURGE EFFECTS
shed his scaly skin, as a new layer grows in underneath. The Each of the SURGE Effects below has a value listed in
value of this effect depends on how visible it is and how parentheses. Any effects the SURGE expression may have in
strongly it may affect a character’s chances of being noticed, gameplay are noted in the description.
recognized or encountering prejudice.
Scaly skin offers no protective value. This effect cannot be Astral Sight (6)
applied to a character with dermal sheathing. The character undergoes a limited Awakening, acquiring a
Magic rating of 1. This Awakening allows her to open her per-
Slow Healer (–2) ceptions to the astral plane and assense, just like a magician
The character’s system responds to damage more slug- (see Astral Perception, p. 171, SR3). She can also now learn the
gishly, and typically takes longer to heal wounds and fatigue. Magical skills of Aura Reading and Enchanting. She cannot
Apply a +2 modifier to all Healing Tests made by the character. astrally project, however, nor does she gain access to any other
magical abilities or skills.
Third Eye (–2) This effect cannot be applied to Awakened characters
A third eye expresses in the middle of the character’s fore- (including adepts).
head. This third eye incurs no vision modifiers, except that the

Claws or Talons (2) High Frequency Hearing (2)
The character’s fingernails and toenails harden and length- The character gains the ability to hear and detect sounds
en into claws or talons, like those of a natural predator. The at a higher pitch than normal human hearing allows.
character may use these claws to attack an opponent using This effect cannot be applied to characters with cyberears
Unarmed Combat skill, inflicting damage of (STR + 1)L. or high frequency hearing cyberware modifications.
This effect cannot be applied to a character with handrazor
cyberware. Horns (2)
A horn or horns express on the character’s head. This
Dermal Deposits (2) effect can range from troll-like ram horns or deer-like antlers to
The character acquires tough and sinewy dermal deposits devilish horns or even jagged crests of bone around the skull.
under his skin, much like a troll. These deposits add +1 the The character can attack with the horns using Unarmed Combat
character’s Body for Damage Resistance Tests. skill, though horn attacks suffer a –1 Reach penalty. Horn
If a troll or a character with dermal plating cyberware attacks inflict (STR)M damage.
acquires this effect, his dermal deposits become even more
widespread and pronounced. The bonus to Body from both his Improved Scent (2)
natural dermal armor or dermal plating cyberware and this This effect grants the character a keener sense of smell,
effect are cumulative. and functions just like the adept power of the same name (see
p. 170, SR3).
Fangs (2) This affect cannot be applied to adepts with the improved
The character’s canines become enlarged and dangerous scent power.
like those of a carnivore. The character can attack with the
fangs using Unarmed Combat skill, though fang attacks suffer a Improved Taste (2)
–1 Reach penalty. Fang attacks inflict (STR +1)L damage. The character acquires a much more refined sense of taste
that functions just like the adept power of the same name (see
Feline Eyes (2) p. 170, SR3).
The character’s eyes transform into those of a feline’s. Like This affect cannot be applied to adepts with the improved
bioware cat’s eyes (see p. 64, M&M), feline eyes are slit and taste power.
provide natural low light vision. Under minimal lighting they
appear to be reflective and glow in the dark. Long Tail (2)
If the character had natural thermographic vision, that abil- A tail sprouts from the base of the user’s spine, at least a
ity is lost as a result of the transformation—for such characters meter (but less than two meters) in length. This tail may be
this effect has a value of 0. Feline eyes cannot be applied to a scaly (like a lizard), hairy (like a dog) or hairless (like a rat). The
character with cybereyes or bioware cat’s eyes. tail is not under the character’s conscious control, and will
tend to twitch, sway and possibly even wrap around things
Gills (4) randomly. The tail does greatly assist the character’s balance,
Amphibian-like gills express on the sides of the character’s reducing by –2 the target number for any tests involving bal-
neck, allowing him to breathe underwater. The respiratory and cir- ance, climbing, jumping, falling, Knockdown and so on. If
culation systems also evolve so that he can reflexively alternate combined with balance augmentation earware, the cumulative
between using lungs (above water) and gills (below water). These modifier is –3. The character will need to have his clothing
gills give the same advantages as the OXSYS cybergill (see p. 31, adjusted to accommodate the tail, and he will find it uncom-
M&M), however they do not require any cyber-related upkeep. fortable to sit in certain positions for long periods.
This effect cannot be applied to a character with OXSYS
cybergill cyberware. Low Frequency Hearing (2)
The character gains the ability to hear and detect sounds
Goblinization (10) at a lower pitch than normal human hearing allows.
A character who undergoes this drastic and painful effect This effect cannot be applied to characters with cyberears
transforms into a different variant of metahuman. Human char- or low frequency hearing cyberware modifications.
acters may only Goblinize into an ork or troll, while other
metahumans may only transform into a metavariant of their Marsupial Pouch (2)
species (such as an ork transforming into an oni). All of the The character develops a pocket-like pouch on his chest
character’s racial modifiers are replaced with the ones appro- or abdomen, just like the pouch a kangaroo uses to carry its
priate to his new species, and the character may also suffer young. This pouch can be used to carry items of
severe height, weight and appearance changes. At the Concealability 6 or higher, and adds +4 to the item’s
gamemaster’s discretion, certain implants may suffer Stress or Concealability when carried.
failure as a result of the transformation.
Gamemasters are encouraged to strictly control the use of
this effect.

sonous if injected into the bloodstream. A nee-
dle or dartgun may be used to apply the poiso-
RANDOM SURGE EFFECTS TABLES
nous fluid.
Inhalation Vector (6): The character can
Positive SURGE Effects
emit a gaseous toxin that is poisonous if
3D6 Roll Result
inhaled. The toxin can be delivered with an
3 Goblinization
aerosol-like squirt (use the rules for the exhala-
4 Satyr Legs
tion spray on p. 65, M&M).
5 Roll 1D6: 1–3 Retractable Claws;
Contact Vector (8): The character produces
4–6 Marsupial Pouch
a substance that is poisonous if absorbed
6 Dermal Deposits
through direct skin contact. The venom may be
7 Roll 1D6: 1–3 Resistance to Disease;
used to coat weapons, and may also be deliv-
4–6 Resistance to Poisons
ered with a spit attack (see p. 65, M&M).
8 Roll 1D6: 1–3 Claws; 4–6 Talons
9 Choose an Edge as a Positive Effect
The venom has a Power equal to the charac-
(or make one up)
ter’s unaugmented Body, a Damage Level of M
10 Thermographic Vision
and a Speed of Immediate. A character can
11 Roll 1D6: 1–3 Fangs; 4–6 Horns
produce a maximum of (Essence) number of
12 Roll 1D6: 1–3 High Frequency Hearing;
doses per day. At the gamemaster’s discretion,
4–6 Low Frequency Hearing
the venom may be more dangerous or may
13 Roll 1D6: 1–3 Improved Scent;
have an effect similar to that of a compound—
4–6 Improved Taste
in this case the value of the natural venom
14 Feline Eyes
should increase appropriately.
15 Natural Venom
16 Prehensile Tail
Prehensile Tail (5)
17 Gills
The prehensile tail functions exactly like the
18 Astral Sight
long tail effect (p. 141), except that the charac-
ter can consciously use and manipulate the tail
Negative SURGE Effects
as if it were an extra limb. The tail can be used
3D6 Roll Result
to pick up items, though it lacks digits and so
3 Chronic Osteocuspus
cannot finely manipulate objects, pull triggers
4 Bio-Rejection
and so on. Apply a +2 modifier to any attempt
5 Cyclops
to use objects with the tail. The tail has an effec-
6 Third Eye
tive strength equal to half the character’s
7 Critter Spook
unaugmented Strength (round down), but it
8 Tusks
can hold the character’s entire body weight if
9 Altered Skin Coloration
he chooses to hang from it (it is after all,
10 Unusual Hair
attached to his spine).
11 Altered Eye Color
Note that prehensile tails do not provide an
12 Choose a Flaw as a Negative Effect
extra attack.
(or make one up)
13 Pointed Ears
Resistance to Disease (1, 3 or 5)
14 Roll 1D6: 1–3 Feathers; 4–6 Scales
Similar to the Resistance to Pathogens Edge
15 Vestigial Tail
(see p. 21, SRComp), each level of this ability
16 Slow Healer
provides one additional die for use in Body
17 Astral Hazing
Tests to resist the effects of disease. This bonus
18 Dual Natured
is compatible with the bonus from any disease-
resisting implant, magic or the natural resis-
tance of dwarfs.
Natural Venom (2, 4, 6, or 8)
The character’s body begins to produce a natural toxin Resistance to Poisons (1, 3 or 5)
(which the character herself acquires a complete immunity to). Similar to the Resistance to Toxins Edge (see p. 21,
The value of this effect is determined by the toxin’s vector: SRComp), each level of this ability provides one additional die
Ingestion Vector (2): The character’s spit or mucus is toxic for use in Body Tests to resist the effects of toxins. This bonus
if ingested (with food or drink). is compatible with the bonus from any toxin-resisting implant,
Injection Vector (4): The character’s spit or mucus is poi- magic or the natural resistance of dwarfs.

Retractable Claws (3) are encouraged to work together to create a custom SURGE
This effect is similar to the claws or talons effect (p. 141), effect. All such effects require the final approval of the
except that the claws may be retracted, like those of a cat. gamemaster, and should be carefully balanced in terms of
This effect cannot be applied to a character with handrazor value and game effect. The SURGE effects provided here, as
cyberware. well as the Edges and Flaws included in the Shadowrun
Companion, can serve as a guideline.
Satyr Legs (6)
The character’s legs transform into the shape of a NPCS AND SURGE
quadruped’s hind legs (just like Kid Stealth Cyberlegs, p. 37, It is important that gamemasters remember that SURGE is
M&M) and his feet change into cloven hooves. The legs also completely random, and that it may well strike NPCs as readi-
grow more hair, like those of a satyr. These legs allow the char- ly as it affects player characters. Gamemasters are encouraged
acter to run much faster—add 1 to his running multiplier. The to have at least a few NPCs in their campaign become
character also gains +2 Power to kicking attacks, and receives changelings. The rules used for determining whether SURGE
an additional die for Athletics Tests involving jumping. affects player characters can also be used for each NPC.
This effect cannot be applied to a character with cyberlegs. Changeling NPCs can also fill some useful or intriguing
roles within a campaign. For example, a changeling who has
Thermographic Vision (2/1 for Decker and Rigger suffered attacks by Humanis can be the source of an adventure,
Characters) whether he hires the characters for defense or revenge or
The character acquires natural thermographic vision, just whether he is killed and the characters are hired to investigate
like dwarfs and trolls. his death. Likewise, a SURGE expression can add that special
little effect to make an NPC antagonist seem especially twisted
Edges as Positive Effects or evil, such as the enemy mage with chronic osteocuspus or
In addition to the SURGE Effects listed below, the follow- the triple-crossing Mr. Johnson triclops.
ing Edges are also available as Positive Effects, using the same
value (see Edges and Flaws, p. 15, SRComp): Exceptional NEW CRITTERS
Attribute (2), Adrenaline Surge (2), Double Jointed (1), High The following statistics apply to the new paranormal crea-
Pain Tolerance (2 per box), Lightning Reflexes (2, 4 or 6), tures described beginning on p. 36.
Natural Immunity (1 or 3), Night Vision (2/1), Quick Healer (2),
Toughness (3), Will to Live (1, 2 or 3), Perfect Time (1), DEMON RAT
Photographic Memory (3), Sense of Direction (1), Animal Demon rats have a very
Empathy (2), Astral Chameleon (2), Magic Resistance (1 to 4), high animalistic intelligence and
Poor Link (2) or Spirit Affinity (2). are quite cunning. They will
often travel in swarms, leading
SURGE AND SOCIAL INTERACTION devil rats as well as mundane
Changelings tend to stick out in a crowd. Many people rats with them in search of
will regard them as freaks at best, mutants at worst. This food. Smaller swarms (under a
unusual look can be a liability in some social interactions, as the dozen rats) will hunt using
changeling’s look may make another person uncomfortable, stealth, relying on the devil and
distrustful or even hostile. demon rats’ concealment powers.
As a general rule, a +1 modifier should be applied to all Larger swarms will often attack en masse,
Charisma or Charisma-linked skill tests made by a changeling to relying on numbers to take down their prey.
reflect their freakishness. At the gamemaster’s discretion, this
modifier can be increased if the changeling’s expressions are B Q S C I W E R
exceptionally noticeable, weird or scary (such as satyr legs or 5/4 6 x 3 5 5 4/6 4 6Z 6
chronic osteocuspus). INIT: 6 + 2D6
In some cases, however, a changeling’s expressions may Attacks: 6M
be accepted or even idolized, such as in the SURGE clubs Powers: Animal Control (Mundane Rats, Devil Rats),
described on p. 32. In these cases, the modifier above may not Concealment (Personal), Corrosive Saliva, Immunity
apply, or the changeling may even receive a –1 modifier when (Pathogens, Poisons)
dealing with changeling fans. Weaknesses: Allergy (Sunlight, Moderate)
Notes: There is a 1 in 6 chance that any given demon rat has
CREATING YOUR OWN SURGE EFFECTS the pestilence power (VITAS-3). Infected rats are immune to
There are many more SURGE expressions manifesting in the virus, they are just the carrier.
the world of Shadowrun than the ones listed here. If a There is also a 1 in 6 chance that the demon rat has the
gamemaster or player has a specific look or effect in mind, they regeneration power.

GLOMOSS NIGHT MANTA
Glomoss has rapidly Night mantas are deadly and effi-
become popular as a relatively cient hunters, silently swooping
cheap astral alarm system. down to sting their prey, then
While it cannot actively affect landing leisurely and devouring
anything astrally, the moss will it. Because they are virtually
glow brightly for several min- invisible and silent, they often
utes after it senses magical take their prey by surprise.
activity. Any magical activity in
the astral plane will trigger the glo-
moss, including foci, spells, spirits
and astrally perceiving or projecting B Q S C I W E R
magicians. 6 6x4 6 — 4/4 4 6 5
Glomoss is rated in Force and is considered dual natured. INIT: 4 + 1D6
A moss’s Force is limited by its size; the Force rating may not Attacks: 8M
exceed the moss’s area in square meters x 5. Powers: Innate Spell (Levitate), Shadow Cloak, Silence, Venom
(6S, Speed: 1 Combat Turn)
Powers: Magic Sense (astral plane only)
Weaknesses: Dietary Requirement (Water) SANGRE DEL DIABLOS
These trees use their compulsion
HORNED BEAR power to draw in victims. Once
Horned Bears are semi- the victim gets close enough,
intelligent creatures and very ter- the tree engulfs him, drawing
ritorial. At full maturity, they can him into its trunk where sap
reach up to 4 meters in height dissolves the body. Their iron-
and weigh as much as 600 like bark and resistance to fire
kilograms. When any creature make the Sangre Del Diablos
it views as a threat enters its incredibly difficult to kill or cut
designated territory, it will offer down, as does their resistance to
up a challenge for ritualized com- magic.
bat. If a single opponent steps for-
ward and accepts this challenge, the B Q S C I W E R
horned bear with fight it in hand to hand combat with sheathed 16/8 5 x 0 14 — 2/5 6 8 3
claws, doing stun damage only. If the horned bear takes any INIT: 3 + 1D6
wound, it will withdraw from combat and leave the trespassers Powers: Compulsion, Corrosive Secretions, Engulf, Immunity
in peace. If the horned bear wins combat, it will expect the (Fire), Magical Guard
opponent(s) to leave its territory immediately (or when they Notes: Treat the engulf power as a sludge engulf (see p. 9,
regain consciousness). Critters)
Should the rituals of this combat be violated in any way,
such as multiple opponents attacking at once, using ranged SHAMBLER
weapons or offensive spells, etc., the horned bear will activate Shamblers typically make their lairs
its enhanced abilities and fight to the death. deep underground, in sewers and
abandoned buildings, though
B Q S C I W E R they are occasionally found in
13/6 6 x 4 13 — 4/6 5 6Z 5 dank, sunless areas such as
INIT: 5 + 2D6 heavy swamps. Most sham-
Attacks: 10M (Stun, w/o claws), 13S (Physical, with claws), +2 blers simply lie in wait for prey
Reach to wander nearby, typically
Powers: Enhanced Physical Attribute (Strength), Enhanced scavengers attracted by the smell
Reactions of corpses. The shambler then uses
its globular spit to immobilize its vic-
tims. The glue coats the target with a
heavy, sticky secretion that makes it nearly impossible to move
or break free.
Once a victim has been immobilized, the shambler will
shamble in and paralyze its prey, then attach the helpless vic-
tim to its shell. It then secretes more glue to cover the new

addition, which hardens over a period of hours into another expected. Since many of these groups are just a cover that
layer or armored shell. Veins grow outward from the inner lay- someone or something uses for exploitation, they will most
ers of the shell into the newly acquired body, allowing the likely continue on until they are exposed, acting as a potential
shambler to begin feeding off the unfortunate creature. threat for years to come.
As the shambler adds to its shell, the shell becomes heav-
ier and more unwieldy. When the shell gets too large, it will USING THE CHILDREN OF THE DRAGON
shed the shell and produce an offspring. The young shambler In its initial heyday, the Children of the Dragon was a
grows rapidly, reaching maturity in 2 months. growing religious organization that seemed to be genuinely
attempting to undertake projects to aid the UCAS’ poor,
B Q S C I W E R SINless and downtrodden. Behind the scenes, its leader also
4/* 5 x 3 6 1 4/5 5 6 5 had an agenda to oppose dark forces in the world as
INIT: 5 + 1D6 Dunkelzahn once did, though their efforts towards this are still
Attacks: 4M developing. The schism (and the violence that accompanies it)
Powers: Engulf, Hardened Armor, Innate Spell (Glue), allows the gamemaster to introduce a religious dispute
Paralyzing Touch between two parties that are otherwise upstanding.
Weaknesses: Allergy (Sunlight, Severe) The leaders of the two factions, Dragonson and
*Notes: Shamblers gain 1 point of armor for every 6 points of Morningstar, are both charismatic, powerful individuals with
Body that is added to their shell. Shamblers will spawn a new connections throughout the political and entertainment worlds.
shambler when they have 13 points of armor. As their shell The strife between them can act as a powerful plot hook, either
gets heavier, the shambler’s Body attribute will increase, while by having an NPC contact or dependant drawn into the vio-
its Quickness and Reaction will decrease. For every 4 points of lence or having it directly affect the characters themselves.
armor the shambler has, apply the following attribute modi- While the temples are the focus of much of the violence, clash-
fiers: +2 Body, –1 Quickness, –1 Reaction. es can occur anytime members of the two factions meet.
Dragonson, the founder of the Children, wants nothing
USING HYSTERIA more than a unified group and to continue to follow the path
The various cults and religious factions described in this put down by Dunkelzahn. Dragonson understands how politi-
book are just a sampling of the spectrum of weird beliefs and cal and economic powers work in the Sixth World, so he
religious infighting that spring up as a result of the comet’s employs a number of trained individuals—essentially merce-
passing. The comet draws all sorts of fringe elements out of the nary forces—to protect the Children’s temples and crèches.
closet, including wannabe prophets, huckster criminals, mad- Some of these guards are shadowrunners whom Dragonson
men, monsters and saints. Each of them puts their own partic- also sometimes employs for secret missions against “dark
ular spin on the comet and current events, luring in the des- forces.” The majority of Dragonson’s followers, however, are
perate and naïve. standard civilians. Dragonson himself is an enigma, as the
These cults and religious groups do not rely on the hyste- source of his magical talent has not been explained. Did he
ria of the times alone to draw in recruits—they employ a range really Awaken or does his Talent stem from something else
of subtle tactics to lure people in and then chain them to the entirely?
group. The primary recruitment method is to play upon peo- Morningstar is the bane of Dragonson. Professing that
ple’s needs, fears and insecurities—they find the hole in that Ghostwalker is Dunkelzahn returned, Morningstar is willing to
person’s life and then offer them something to fill it. Many spill blood to reclaim the Children from what he sees as an
recruits are recovering addicts or believers in other faiths. errant path. Many of Morningstar’s followers, roughly a third of
Recruits are also tempted with the urge to belong to something, the Children’s membership, are from the underclass—includ-
to be a part of a whole, connected to an extended family. ing many former gangers, shadowrunners and petty criminals.
Once they are in, these groups will often enforce strict rules These people have been shut out of the temples because of
or behavioral conduct designed to keep the person attached to their beliefs, and they are willing to follow Morningstar and
the group. The cult will attempt to dominate the person’s life in fight to reclaim what they believe is rightfully theirs.
all aspects. Recruits will be encouraged to quit their jobs and Ghostwalker’s attitude towards this group so far has been neu-
surrender everything they own, so that they become entirely tral—or has it? Is Morningstar also Awakened? Is there some
dependent upon the group for basic needs. Heavy peer pres- other power pulling his strings, and to what end?
sure, strict responsibilities, rewards and punishment and love- Some Awakened members of the Children of the Dragon
bombing are just the beginning—drugs, BTLs, threats, blackmail claim to follow a new totem or idol known as Dragon, though
and magical coercion may also play a role. Such groups are ripe the validity of this claim is disputed. Should the gamemaster
grounds for paranormal creatures such as shadow free spirits, decide this claim is true, the following rules should be used.
vampires, insect spirits and nomads.
What will happen when Halley’s Comet passes? Will these Dragon
groups melt away, implode or transform into something else Dragon is a wily wyrm who sees the future laid out before
entirely? Those that are truly based on extreme beliefs may him as a myriad of pathways. Rather than simply walking the
commit mass suicide when the comet fails to perform as path that leads towards his goal, Dragon arranges the path-

ways so that they all lead to his goal, one way or another. Though Ale’i Menatis prefers to recruit people through good
Dragon is a crafty manipulator, subtle and far-reaching, whose old-fashioned subterfuge, they are not above using BTL addiction
every move has repercussions that may not be seen for years and conditioning to ensure the conversions of plump targets.
to come. Dragon is a creature of terrible might, but he is also a Of course, there may be more to Ale’i Menatis than meets
creature of balance who sees that each action has a conse- the eye. Who is in charge? What are their real goals? Where
quence and so strives to achieve a harmonious equilibrium. does the cult acquire its BTLs? What is being done with the
Environment: Mountains credit, data and other prizes being stripped from new recruits?
Advantages: +2 dice for detection and manipulation spells, +1
dice for mountain spirits USING THE CHURCH OF THE UNDYING LIGHT
Disadvantages: Dragon shamans must have a minimum The Church of the Undying Light is one of the few bright
Intelligence of 6. Dragon shamans are overconfident, and must spots in an otherwise crazy time. Not apocalyptic, homicidal or
make a Willpower (6) Test to change a course of action based suicidal, they actively try to help the less fortunate in ways that
on the advice of another. They are also hoarders, and must will make an immediate difference. Ellen Barai is a woman of
make a Willpower (6) Test to relinquish possession of an item vision, yet imminently practical. She has devoted herself and
with value. her fortune to the betterment of the people around her. The
Church of the Undying Light recruits actively from those they
USING THE CULT OF THE SEVENTH SEAL help, though they also make themselves known in brighter
The Seventh Seal is a Humanis Policlub-spawned, Bible- social circles and have received a goodly amount of help from
swinging hate cult. Though mostly based in Seattle, the cult’s those sources.
followers may spread to other sprawls as well. Jeremiah Unfortunately, Barai is also a bit naïve. To establish the
Adams, the Humanis member and SURGE changeling who Church, she took support, advice and many favors from well-
becomes the cult’s leader, is using his followers to demand connected friends and family members, including the Bigio
repentance, spread hatred and sow further chaos during an Mafia family. Now some of these groups are beginning to call
already chaotic time. But there is more to Jeremiah than meets in their markers, and Barai is faced with the choice of selling
the eye, and his true goals remain a mystery. Is he simply a out and exploiting the people she’s trying to help or refusing
mouthpiece and fundraiser for the Humanis Policlub’s agenda, and facing the consequences. As the pressure intensifies,
filling the coffers of Alamos 20K and Brackhaven? Is he a pup- Barai and her supporters may well call upon humanitarian
pet of a secret cabal of Adversary Idol worshippers? Or is he a shadowrunners (“hooders”) for protection, while the Bigio
canny manipulator, chock-full of mesmerizing charisma, with and other interests may be hiring runners to break Barai to
plans to take all the glory gained for himself? their will.
Characters may be exposed to the Seventh Seal in several Barai herself was an employee of Renraku who was even-
ways. Changeling, metahuman or Awakened characters may tually freed when the AI Deus was “destroyed.” There is no
be targeted for attack by Seventh Seal extremists. The runners conclusive evidence that Barai was part of Deus’ plans, but ties
may be hired by the family of a cult member, who wants his rel- to that storyline may be made at the gamemaster’s discretion.
ative kidnapped and “deprogrammed.” A group like the
Mothers of Metahumans may hire runners to investigate the USING THE NEW ISLAMIC JIHAD
truth behind Jeremiah, and to expose the cult’s inner workings. Badr al Din Ibn Eisa is the charismatic leader of a popular
Or a group like the Sons of Sauron may ask for help in destroy- religious movement known as the Islamic Unity Movement.
ing this hate cult once and for all. Whatever the gamemaster Raised among Islamic nations that were fractured by war, sec-
decides, this cult allows him or her to introduce doomsaying tarianism and infighting, Ibn Eisa founded a movement to unite
prophesies, religious subtexts, racist terrorism and fanatical all of Islam under one banner. Starting slowly with negotiations
adversaries into an adventure. between Iran and Iraq, Ibn Eisa’s support has swelled to the
point where he is credited with uniting several smaller states
USING THE ATLANTEAN REBIRTH to form the new nation of Arabia, as well as sponsoring the
On the surface, Ale’i Menatis is a self-help organization drive to occupy and reclaim Lebanon.
that recruits depressed, needy people and provides them with As a popular figurehead, Ibn Eisa is dangerous to many
a sense of identity, belonging and purpose. Behind the exteri- Islamic state leaders because he can sway the opinion of mass-
or, Ale’i Menatis is a shady outfit, exploiting the gullible and es of people and force them to take actions they otherwise
ripping them off for money, data and more. Though the lead- wouldn’t. For years, Ibn Eisa has been the target of those
ership of Ale’i Menatis is hidden from view, Miroth Be’nahven threatened by his power as well as other sects who have dif-
(or Nick Reitoth) is the most public figurehead. Miroth comes fering goals. The occupation of Lebanon also made Ibn Eisa an
off as an opportunist and egotist with little concern for the enemy of Israel, a nation that fears Ibn Eisa may lead a war
well-being of others. While he rarely resorts to violence, he has against them. Which of these agencies assassinates Ibn Eisa?
no compunction about subverting the lives and identities of his That is for the gamemaster to decide. The players themselves
targets. He is not Awakened, but he heavily recruits those who may become involved by being asked to monitor Ibn Eisa
are magically active and quickly puts them to work “convert- before his death, or even to root out those who wish to or who
ing” new recruits. succeed in killing him.

Ibn Eisa’s rise from the dead raises many questions and
shocks the Middle East. Was his death staged as a ploy to gain
more support? Is the new Ibn Eisa actually an imposter? Or is
something more sinister at work? One thing is certain—the
resurrected Ibn Eisa is no longer the same. His calls for unity
have transformed into a call for jihad—war against the enemies
of Islam. Overnight, his support swells dramatically, making
him the premier power in the Middle East. What are his goals?
If jihad is declared, who will his target be? Will he succeed in
uniting the Islamic world behind his holy war?
A number of adventures may arise from this situation.
Those countries threatened by the jihad—Israel, Egypt,
Pakistan and Turkey to name a few, may hire shadowrunners to
investigate the truth about Ibn Eisa’s resurrection or to assess
his power base for weaknesses. Some of Ibn Eisa’s enemies
may attempt another assassination, this time to put him down
for good. Other opportunities exist as Ibn Eisa consolidates his
forces—the New Islamic Jihad wants to know who its enemies
are and how best to undermine them.
USING GHOST STORIES

Like all the other events surrounding Halley’s Comet, the
events surrounding the introduction of Ghostwalker are likely
to take the Shadowrun universe into a somewhat unexpected
turn. For some games, it may take players into new territory,
figuratively and literally speaking.
THE DUNKELZAHN RIFT

The rift is a tear in the fabric of reality, a hole ripping
through the physical world and leading to metaplanar parts
unknown. As described in Portfolio of a Dragon: Dunkelzahn’s
Secrets, the rift was a byproduct of the assassination of the
great dragon Dunkelzahn the night he was inaugurated as
President of the UCAS. The rift hovers 6 meters over the
pavement near the Watergate Hotel, and has defied all
attempts to investigate or explore it—several trained magi-
cians have died trying. The rift is a homage site to
Dunkelzahn’s fans, who hold vigils and memorials there. It is
also a popular rallying spot for certain policlubs in DeeCee,
particularly Humanis. The site draws thousands of tourists,
researchers and comet doomsayers.
In the later months of 2061, the rift grows turbulent, and
on more than one occasion strange spirits make their way
through it. When Ghostwalker breaks through, a flood of
strange spirits engulfs the area. Many of these spirits are shed-
im (see p. 149), while others are unknown.
The rift can be used by gamemasters as the eerie back-
drop to a meeting or shadowrun, whether characters meet
with a Johnson in the crowd or are hired to spy on or disrupt
political rallies. The cordon placed by the UCAS Army and
the presence of trained troops, mages and spirits makes
action in the vicinity difficult. Just being near the rift is dan-
gerous, as the rift has occasionally been known to exhibit
unusual magical effects.
The rift disturbances can be used as plot seeds, where the
runners are hired either to track down some of the alien spirits
that have broken through or to steal research files from the

UCAS Army or any of the other groups competing to investi- tor back, and a series of conflicts occur as the CAS-Aztlan bor-
gate it. Some of the spirits venturing through the rift are free der heats up. Aztlan does not want to be fighting wars on sev-
spirits (see p. 113, MITS), while others belong to new “species” eral fronts, however, so the decision is made to end the
of spirit never before classified. The spirits venturing through Yucatan conflict by any means necessary—leading to the
the rift may be benign and helpful, dangerous or simply pursu- events described on p. 115. The revisions of the Treaty and
ing their own agendas. power balance within Denver also spread out into the Native
American nations and other states, causing arguments in the
GHOSTWALKER’S RAMPAGE sovereign Tribal Council and escalating tensions elsewhere.
Ghostwalker’s first vicious rampage and the weeks of Very little is known about Ghostwalker and his goals, and each
guerrilla warfare that follow present quite a few opportunities of the neighboring states is going to want to know more about
for shadowrun campaigns. The characters may simply be in the this unpredictable power player. And then there are the other
wrong place at the wrong time and find themselves pinned great dragons, who are unusually tight-lipped when it comes
between Ghostwalker and a fierce opponent (Aztechnology, to welcoming one of their brethren back from beyond …
sector guards, or one of these strange spirits that Ghostwalker
seems to be hunting). Alternately, the runners may be hired as MAGIC AND THE COMET
protection against the dragon by someone who fears they may In the latter half of 2061, the appearance of Halley’s
be targeted, or they may be hired to find out what they can Comet triggers a flood of unusual magical events and distur-
about the dragon and his allies. bances around the world. Odd and unusual spirits, ghosts,
The chaos of this period lends itself well to freelance shad- mana storms and wild magic—the year of the comet is an
ow work. Some shadowrunners may take advantage of the ten- exciting time. The manasphere is awash with turbulence, and
sion to set enemies against each other or simply use the chaos no one can predict the outcome. Besides SURGE and new
as a distraction. The heightened state of security will make paracritters, the mana level rise triggers the appearance of
crime difficult, but smuggling will also become more prof- new sources of naturally occurring orichalcum and other
itable. Finally, as Aztlan and the other nations bring in military magical oddities.
units, runners may be hired to sabotage these operations or Many of these magical disturbances are localized and tem-
collect information on them for rivals. porary phenomena. For example, during one lunch hour, a
The runners may even be hired by Ghostwalker himself, as mana backlash temporarily turns all spell effects against their
he goes about his meticulous plan to seize the city. Many deals spellcasters in the middle of downtown Seattle. Other phe-
need to be made; where negotiations fail, blackmail, assassina- nomenon have more lasting, even permanent effects. An
tion and theft will suffice. overnight spur of deep-forest growth appears where only
scraggly weeds survived before, for example, or a strange, per-
THE MILE-HIGH DRAGON CITY petual fog suddenly blankets an area. Some of the mana dis-
The situation does not settle when Ghostwalker gains con- turbances are strong enough to create natural disasters, such as
trol of the Front Range Free Zone—in fact, it intensifies. floods, mudslides, volcanic eruptions and devastating storms.
First, the invasion of the Aztlan sector by CAS troops has Some of these magical disturbances—such as the strange
numerous repercussions. Though the military operation itself rain of frogs that disrupts downtown traffic—are merely nui-
is finished in less than a day, it takes the CAS weeks to com- sances. Others—such as the specters and ghosts that haunt
pletely subdue the sector. Pockets of Aztechnology-backed households or the poor soul who develops a magical “curse”
resistance fighters wage a campaign of guerrilla warfare that threatens to doom him—are more sinister. Some of these
against CAS troops, eventually simmering down to a low- disturbances destroy people’s homes and vehicles and even
intensity warfare campaign. Thousands are rounded into metahuman lives. Certain individuals and groups seek to
internment camps where they are processed and then either exploit these effects for their own ends. These include magical
deported or released as probationary CAS citizens. Naturally, groups who seek to seize control of new mana lines or aspect-
criminal syndicates, underhanded corporate Johnsons and ed power sites to enhance their power or advance their caus-
other criminals take advantage of the fracas, seizing new mar- es. The magical disturbances and those who exploit them can
kets and raiding enemy files. provide any number of plot hooks and adventure seeds, limit-
Elsewhere in the city, the announcement of Denver’s ed only by a gamemaster’s imagination.
new dragon overlord does not go over well with everyone. For gamemasters who want to use pre-existing rules for
Humanis and other hate-mongering policlubs take to the such magical effects, the sections on Background Count, Mana
streets, calling for the dragon to be ousted. Thousands of Surges and Wild Magic on pp. 83–88, MITS, offer a good start-
corps and citizens flee the city for “safer” sprawls. ing point. Gamemasters are also encouraged to devise their
Meanwhile, the political infrastructure of the city undergoes own effects.
a purging and re-organization as the dragon’s rule upsets the
old balance. Shadowrunners will be able to pick and choose WUXING AND THE ORICHALCUM RUSH
their jobs. Starting in September of 2061, natural orichalcum
Naturally, the events in Denver have an impact on the deposits that were previously unknown to exist are found
larger world picture. Aztechnology gears up to take their sec- throughout the world. This creates an “orichalcum rush” as

thousands of individuals and corporations scramble to stake against shadowrunners and others who may attempt to seize
their claims and cash in. them by force.
At first, the few who are aware of the new discoveries
keep quiet, hoping to exploit the situation to their maximum THE WELL DRIES UP
advantage. Wuxing, a megacorp with strong traditional ties In mid-2062, shortly after Halley’s Comet passes from
to the art of feng shui and its geomantic practitioners, is one sight, the predictions of some parageologists come true. All
such player. As soon as news of the discoveries reaches known orichalcum deposits run dry, and those that have been
Wuxing headquarters, the corp sends out wujen skilled in located but not yet exploited mysteriously cease to exist. No
geomantic metamagic to scour the world’s dragon lines and new orichalcum veins are found, and the rush comes to an
locate new orichalcum deposits. Other magical theorists scoff abrupt end.
at the mention of geomantic metamagic and claim that The corps, however, remain vigilant. Operating under the
Wuxing is hiding the real scientific methods it’s using to assumption that the mana level may one day rise again, return-
locate deposits. ing natural orichalcum to the world, they continue to scout for
Once Wuxing locates a deposit, it moves quickly to obtain locations where orichalcum is likely to appear. Taking the long
the land or mining rights to the areas—through any means view, they hope to have such areas firmly under their control
necessary. In most cases, Wuxing begins with a “soft when the next rush begins. Such investments will keep shad-
approach.” The megacorp makes generous purchase offers, owrunners occupied in the years to come.
business deals or mining claims, all the time being careful not
to mention the magic “O” word. If suspicions are raised or USING NATURAL ORICHALCUM
other obstructions are met, Wuxing drops the soft approach Unlike synthetic orichalcum, natural orichalcum is laced
and resorts to “Plan B.” Under Plan B, a host of corporate men, with imperfections and impurities. However, traditional meth-
hired mercenaries and shadowrunners employ bribery, black- ods for refining raw metal materials for alchemy (see Refining
mail, Matrix fraud, forgery and outright strong-arm tactics such Materials, p. 41, MITS) dissolves orichalcum. Instead, treat
as murder and land seizure—whatever it takes to acquire the orichalcum ore as if it were already a refined material. Before it
land and its orichalcum deposit. can be used, it must be put through an alchemical circulation,
Because it lacks significant mining assets, Wuxing is forced as described in Making Radicals, p. 42, MITS. To successfully
to acquire an ally to fully exploit these orichalcum deposits. The weed out the impurities, the alchemist must make a successful
most obvious choice is DeBeers-Omnitech, a subsidiary of the Enchanting (Alchemy) Test against a target number equal to
Pacific Prosperity Group’s Universal Omnitech. As the world the number of raw orichalcum units, multiplied by 3. A unit of
leader in the mining of diamonds and other precious minerals, raw natural orichalcum weighs 20 grams and produces a single
DeBeers-Omnitech is in an excellent position to mobilize unit of radical orichalcum weighing 10 grams.
equipment and personnel to mine orichalcum rapidly and Natural orichalcum is not as effective as synthetic orichal-
secretly. A partnership is quickly formed, and the two corps cum for artificing purposes. It provides only a –1 Enchanting
gain a significant head start on the opposition. Test modifier for every two units (only one unit of synthetic
Wuxing cannot expect to keep such a secret under its orichalcum provides the same modifier). Likewise, two units of
belt forever, and within a few short months news of orichal- natural orichalcum are needed to reduce the Karma cost for
cum discoveries make their way into the daily news. Within bonding by 1. For more information, see p. 44, MITS.
days, the news sparks an “orichalcum rush,” as prospecting
corps and independents begin scouring the Earth for the pre- NATURAL ORICHALCUM ON THE BLACK MARKET
cious material. As a result of impurities, natural orichalcum commands a
Though Wuxing and DeBeers-Omnitech clearly have the much lower price on the black market than synthetic orichal-
lead, the specter of Aztechnology haunts their operations. cum. In its raw, unrefined state, a single unit of natural orichal-
Aztechnology has maintained a close relationship with cum (20 grams) sells for approximately 25,000¥. A unit of nat-
Universal Omnitech for years and does not take kindly to ural orichalcum that has been refined through alchemy (10
Wuxing stepping into its “territory”—especially with such a grams) sells for approximately 50,000¥.
windfall at stake. Aztechnology also holds a grudge against After the orichalcum rush begins, the black market is
Wuxing for keeping it out of the Pacific Prosperity Group. In no flooded with natural orichalcum being sold as synthetic orichal-
time at all, a shadow war between the two corps begins, with cum to naive buyers. Without a careful investigation, the dif-
Omnitech as the primary battleground. ference between synthetic and refined natural orichalcum is
The orichalcum rush provides thousands of new jobs for hard to determine. To tell the two apart, a character must make
shadowrunners. Many potential orichalcum deposits are locat- a successful Parageology (6) Test (a similar appropriate
ed in backwater regions, so scouting parties hire guides and Knowledge skill may be substituted for Parageology) or
outdoorsmen as well as guards to protect them from paracrit- achieve five or more successes on an Assensing Test.
ters, bandits and warlords. Once deposits are located, the land
itself or the mining rights must be acquired; quite often, land THE SHEDIM
owners are reluctant to surrender land or mining rights. Once The shedim are spirits from an unknown metaplane that
obtained, additional guards are needed to protect claims have recently found their way into our world. The shedim

encountered so far have been extremely hostile toward
metahumans and other spirits, so their motivation for entering
this plane has not been determined. All that is known is that
they are alien entities, with an alien consciousness and an
alien mindset.
The first documented sighting of a shedim occurred short-
ly after Ghostwalker tore his way through the Dunkelzahn Rift.
A flood of spirits followed in Ghostwalker’s wake, taking
advantage of the metaplanar paths the dragon opened to pour
through from their worlds into the Earth’s astral plane. Once
they had arrived, these spirits scattered to the four winds; most
are still at large. A good portion of these new arrivals were
shedim, and they have shown no desire to return to their
native metaplane.
Shedim are a unique type of free spirit, differing from
other free spirits in their use and accumulation of Spirit
Energy and several other important ways. Whether or not
shedim have true names like other free spirits remains a mat-
ter of conjecture.
Once a shedim has found its way to our world and entered
the astral plane, it cannot voluntarily return to its native plane
or the metaplanes. However, the astral forms of shedim seem
to be inherently unstable, and they quickly lose power over
time. The only way a shedim can remain in this world is by
anchoring itself within a body. A shedim that does not quickly
find such a “vessel” to inhabit (see p. 151) will not be long for
this world.
The number of shedim sightings around the world has
greatly outnumbered the number of shedim that were
observed entering this world in Ghostwalker’s wake. Clearly,
the shedim have some way of entering the Earth’s astral plane
from the metaplanes of their own accord. The first shedim that
arrived may have devised methods to summon more of their
brethren across the planes into this world, or it may be that
Ghostwalker merely forged a trail that other shedim are now
following, trickling through and increasing their numbers.
The level of intelligence, motivation and malice observed
among individual shedim varies greatly. Some magical theorists
speculate that different types of shedim spirits may in fact exist.
SHEDIM RULES
As spirits, shedim have Force ratings that reflect their
power. A shedim’s Force rating is used for all of its attributes.
Shedim Astral Forms

Unlike many spirits, which appear on the astral plane as
coherent aggregations of energy in distinct individual forms,
the shedim appear as insubstantial, translucent apparitions.
These ghostly forms resemble large, free-floating, jellyfish-like
amoeboid entities.
As their dissipated appearance suggests, shedim are actu-
ally quite weak on the astral plane. Once a shedim assumes
astral form, it has a limited period of time before its astral form
dissipates and the shedim is drawn back to its home meta-
plane. For each full day (24 hours) that a shedim remains in full
astral form, reduce its Force rating by 1. A shedim whose Force
rating reaches 0 is destroyed.

The only way a shedim in astral form can prevent this Inhabitation, Karma Drain (p. 153) and Aura Masking (p. 117,
Force loss is by inhabiting a vessel (see p. Inhabitation). As long MITS). Individual gamemasters determine the specific powers
as a shedim inhabits a vessel, it does not lose Force points. available to specific shedim spirits, based on the spirits’ threat
However, once a shedim has been forced out of a vessel, the levels and roles within campaigns.
countdown begins again. For this reason, finding a body to Note that a shedim in astral form can only use mana-based
occupy is the primary task of a shedim newly arrived on Earth. powers. The shedim must inhabit a vessel to use its physical
The etherealness of shedim astral forms also increases the powers.
difficulty of detecting them on the astral plane. Apply a +2 Shedim also possess the Weakness of Allergy (Sunlight,
modifier to all Assensing Tests against shedim as well as mag- Mild).
ical detection attempts made through other means, such as the
Magic Sense power or Detect Magic spell. Deathly Aura
Finally, the insubstantial astral forms of shedim spirits Type: P • Action: Free • Range: Special • Duration: Sustained
enable them to bypass astral barriers easily by using the Aura A shedim with the Deathly Aura power exudes an aura of
Masking power (see Fooling Astral Barriers, p. 88, MITS). primordial fear and decay from its vessel. The aura extends in
Apply a –2 modifier to the shedim’s target number for the a radius equal to the spirit’s Force (plus Spirit Energy) in
Success Contest. meters. The aura has several effects.
First, a noticeable chill affects everyone within range. A
Shedim Spirit Energy metahuman’s breath will create fog in the chill, which raises
When a shedim enters astral space from the metaplanes, goosebumps on skin as well. The chill is not severe enough to
it receives 1 point of Spirit Energy. This spirit energy may be freeze water, however.
used in all the ways described under Spirit Energy, p. 114, Second, the aura triggers the decay of all organic matter in
MITS. A shedim’s Spirit Energy rating can never be higher than the area of effect. Food spoils, plants wither and die, wood rots
its Force rating. and natural textiles weaken and fray. This effect is not strong
Shedim spirits can increase their Spirit Energy and/or enough to affect living metahumans and critters, though it
Force ratings by acquiring and spending Good Karma (see Uses does kill insects and small animals such as mice.
of Good Karma, p. 116, MITS). To acquire Karma, the shedim Third, the Deathly Aura fills living creatures with a para-
must use its Karma Drain power (see p. 153). Karma Points can lyzing sense of panic. The first time a character enters the area
also be freely given to shedim spirits (as described under Free of effect of a shedim’s aura, he must make a Willpower (Force)
Spirits and Good Karma, p. 116, MITS). Test. If the test succeeds, he is scared, but remains in control.
If the test fails, an unreasoning terror pierces his heart and he
Shedim and Conjuring is immediately paralyzed and unable to take any action other
How shedim are finding and entering our world remains than whimpering and soiling his pants. At the end of each sub-
unclear. No magician has the ability to conjure or control sequent Combat Turn, the character may attempt an Opposed
shedim spirits. Test between his Willpower and the shedim’s Force ratings. If
However, magicians can banish shedim spirits (see p. 189, the test succeeds, the character breaks out of the aura’s grip
SR3). A shedim that is inhabiting a vessel (see Inhabitation) and may act normally.
when it is banished is merely forced back into the astral plane Shedim that possess the Aura Masking power can use that
at its full Force. A shedim may not re-inhabit a vessel it has power to “turn off” a deathly aura.
been banished from until 24 hours have passed (though anoth-
er shedim may). It is unknown whether banishing a shedim’s Inhabitation
astral form actually destroys the shedim spirit or merely dis- Type: M • Action: Exclusive Complex • Range: Special •
rupts it, sending it back to its native plane. Duration: Special
Shedim spirits cannot materialize in physical form as other
Shedim Karma Pool spirits do (though they may manifest their astral forms on the
Shedim spirits enter this world with a Karma Pool of 1D6. physical plane). To act in the physical plane, a shedim spirit
This pool may be increased by 1 at a cost of 10 Good Karma must occupy a body that once possessed a living spirit (i.e., a
Points. Gamemasters should feel free to adjust this amount as corpse). Shedim cannot possess the body of a living creature
appropriate to their games. (as other spirits with the power of possession can) if the crea-
ture’s living spirit is residing within its body. However, shedim
SHEDIM POWERS can inhabit the body of an astrally projecting magician, as the
The shedim encountered so far have exhibited one or magician’s living spirit vacates his body when it takes astral
more of the following powers: Aura Masking, Compulsion, form.
Deathly Aura, Fear, Immunity (Age, Pathogens, Toxins), To inhabit a body—referred to here as a vessel—the
Inhabitation, Karma Drain, Magical Guard, Noxious Breath, shedim must move into contact with the vessel’s aura. It then
Regeneration, Shadowcloak and Silence. Most of these powers makes a Force Test against a target number based on the
are described on pp. 7–15 of Critters. Descriptions of remain- “age” of the vessel, as shown on the Shedim Inhabitation
ing powers are provided in YOTC or elsewhere: Deathly Aura, Table. Taking over the body of a still living (but astrally pro-

its vessel by
using possession
CORPSE ATTRIBUTES TABLE
metamagic (or
the critter
Corpse Has Been Dead For: Body Quickness Strength Running Multiplier
power).
Less than 1 hour — –1 — —
Dead Vessels:
1 hour–24 hours +1 –3 — –2
Depending on
24 hours–1 week — –1 –1 —
the cause of
1 week–1 month –1 –2 –2 —
death, a corpse
1 month–1 year –2 –4 –3 —
may display sig-
1 year–10 years –3 –5 –4 –1
nificant physical
10 years–100 years –4 –6 –5 –1
damage. It may
100 years–1,000 years –6 –8 –7 –2
also display
More than 1,000 years –8 –10 –10 –2
some decompo-
sition, depend-
ing on how long
it’s been dead. To
reflect this, modify the Physical attributes and running
SHEDIM INHABITATION TABLE multipliers of corpses according to the Corpse
Attributes Table. No corpse attribute can be reduced
Host Vessel Target Number below 1. Any damage a corpse has sustained prior to
Still alive (astrally projecting magician) 4 inhabitation does not directly affect the shedim inhabit-
Dead: ing the vessel. An inhabiting shedim cannot heal previ-
Less than 1 hour 5 ous damage, however, even if the shedim has the
1 hour–24 hours 6 power of regeneration.
24 hours–1 week 8 Decomposition and previous damage does affect a
1 week–1 month 9 vessel’s natural abilities. For example, if a vessel’s eyes
1 month–1 year 10 are severely decayed or damaged, an inhabiting shed-
1 year–10 years 11 im cannot see through them (though it can still per-
10 years–100 years 12 ceive astrally).
100 years–1,000 years 15 Only structural cyberware in a vessel—bone lacing,
More than 1,000 years 18 dermal plating and so on—can be used by an inhabit-
ing shedim. Cyberware that requires any sort of mental
or nervous system interaction or requires electrical
energy does not work and provides no bonuses.
jecting) magician is much easier than taking over the decayed Likewise, bioware dependant on bodily functions pro-
body of a millennia-old corpse. Inhabiting a vessel requires vide no bonus, though some structural implants (cat’s eyes,
an Exclusive Complex Action. If the test succeeds, the shed- enhanced articulation, muscle augmentation, muscle toner, nic-
im inhabits the vessel. If the shedim’s test fails, it loses a point titating membranes, orthoskin) do—unless the body “parts”
of Force. The shedim may try again, though it receives a +2 they enhance have decomposed or been damaged. Nanoware
cumulative modifier for each additional attempt. does not function in corpses.
When a shedim inhabits a vessel, it becomes dual Once inhabited, a corpse does not decompose further
natured and can take advantage of its physical-based powers. until the shedim leaves the vessel. Any damage sustained by
The body’s Physical attributes are increased by the shedim’s an inhabited vessel impedes the inhabiting shedim per stan-
Force (plus Spirit Energy), and the shedim continues to use its dard rules. Shedim with the Regeneration power can heal
own Mental attributes rather than the vessel’s. Mana spells such damage.
affect the shedim, while physical spells and attacks affect the When a shedim leaves a corpse vessel, the corpse goes
vessel only. through a rapid process of degradation. Within a single Combat
While in the vessel, the shedim obtains the natural abilities Turn, the corpse decomposes to the point of decay it would
possessed by the vessel. For example, a dwarf vessel provides have reached had the shedim never inhabited it. Thus, a corpse
a shedim with thermographic vision, while a troll vessel pro- that has been inhabited by a shedim for years or decades may
vides dermal armor and Reach as well. suddenly mummify, turn skeletal or even fall to dust when the
Once a shedim has inhabited a vessel, it cannot leave the shedim leaves. Similarly, a flesh sample intended for use as a
vessel voluntarily. If the vessel is killed (it reaches Deadly dam- material link for ritual sorcery may well decay into an unusable
age and does not regenerate), the shedim is immediately form if the shedim has inhabited the vessel for long enough.
ejected into astral space. A shedim can also be driven out of a A shedim can re-inhabit a corpse vessel from which it has
vessel by killing it in astral combat, banishing it or possessing been “ejected.” However, re-inhabiting a corpse is more diffi-

cult then initially inhabiting it. Apply a +4 modifier to the USING SHEDIM
required Force Test for each previous inhabitation of the corpse. Gamemasters can use shedim in their campaigns in sever-
Living Vessels: When a shedim inhabits the living body of al ways. They can be presented as the typical mindless, sham-
an astrally projecting magician, the magician instantly senses bling, brain- or flesh-eating undead common in B-grade horror
that something has affected his link with his body. The magi- flicks. They can also be presented as manipulative, fully sen-
cian may attempt to locate his body per standard rules. If the tient creatures that are slowly learning to take advantage of
body is no longer in the same location, the mage must search modern technology. While some shedim are not going to be
for it (see p. 173, SR3). Apply a special +2 modifier to the test picky about their vessels, others may search specifically for liv-
required to search for the body—the shedim’s inhabitation dis- ing vessels so that they may infiltrate metahuman society.
torts the mage’s link to it. Shedim make an excellent threat to player characters, as
If the magician locates the shedim, he can attempt to even shedim with low Force ratings have enough powers to
recover control of his body by engaging and killing the shedim make life difficult for them. The shedim ability to inhabit the
in astral combat, by banishing it or by using the possession vacant bodies of astrally projecting magicians also makes them
metamagic power to “repossess” his own body. an excellent astral threat and an effective tool for curbing
Because the vessel is still alive, the shedim must feed, excessive projection by player characters.
water and otherwise take care of the body to keep it alive and The exact motivations of the shedim remain a mystery, so
useful. Many shedim do not immediately understand this con- gamemasters have plenty of freedom when portraying shedim
cept and may not take particularly good care of their bodies in campaigns. Some shedim may be collecting “fresh” bodies
until they comprehend what is required. If the vessel dies, the for new shedim arrivals. Other shedim may simply be interest-
shedim is ejected back into astral space. However, nothing pre- ed in feeding on the Earth’s abundant life forces. Still other
vents the shedim from immediately re-inhabiting the corpse. shedim may have other goals, which may even involve work-
A shedim inhabiting a living vessel can take advantage of ing with other entities and agencies.
all of the vessel’s implants, though it may not understand what Shedim make excellent recurring villains for campaigns
those implants are or how they work. The shedim does not because they can flee vessels that are destroyed and are diffi-
receive access to any of the vessel’s memories, skills, person- cult to track on the astral plane.
ality or magical abilities. More details on the shedim will appear in future
Shadowrun products.
Karma Drain
Type: P • Action: Exclusive Complex • Range: Touch • DISASTER IN JAPAN
Duration: Sustained The shakeup of Japan described in Red Sunset, Red Sunrise
A shedim who manages to touch a character can use this (p. 97) also sends tremors throughout the world. Imperial
power to suck Good Karma away from the character’s life Japan is one of the world’s strongest nations, and is home to
force. The shedim may need to succeed in an Unarmed some of the world’s most powerful megacorps. When this
Combat Test to touch its victim. power bloc is upset, the world shakes with their grief.
To drain away Good Karma, the shedim must succeed in
an Opposed Test between its Force (plus Spirit Energy) rating THE RING OF FIRE SPEAKS UP
and the victim’s Willpower rating. Each net success for the The chaos begins when a series of volcanic eruptions, tidal
shedim allows it to drain one point of Good Karma from the waves and other natural disasters do significant, but not
victim, provided the victim has unspent Good Karma. If the irrecoverable, damage to Japan’s infrastructure. For characters
victim has none, the shedim drains away Karma Pool at a ratio in Japan at this time, especially those on the island of Kyushu,
of 1 Karma Pool point per 2 successes. Drained Karma Pool their lives may be threatened by hot lava, noxious gases, dev-
points are converted to an equal number of Good Karma points astating tidal waves, overpowering smoke or earthquake-
for the shedim. If the victim has no Karma Pool, the attempted struck buildings. Getting out of the disaster zone alive may be
drain has no effect. Any Good Karma or Karma Pool points an adventure unto itself. Runners may also be hired to locate
drained by a shedim are permanently lost to the character. missing persons or to extract valuable personnel from hospitals
The draining process is incredibly painful to the victim, who or crisis relief camps.
is struck with wrenching side effects such as cramps, dizziness In the wake of these disasters, many unscrupulous types
and nausea. The victim must make an immediate Willpower will move to take advantage of the situation. Corporations that
(Force) Test or be knocked down. The victim also takes a single are hit hard may find themselves in danger of buyouts or cor-
box of Physical damage for each Karma point drained. porate piracy, while damaged facilities may be the target of
The damage caused by this power manifests in several shadowruns while their security is weakened. As the Japanese
ways. Many victims actually suffer from a withering effect that megacorps move to stabilize their business in a time of eco-
dries their skin and gives them a hollow, haunted look. Other nomic turbulence, shadow activity heats up.
victims have been known to develop signs of premature aging, This natural upheaval does not just affect Japan alone—the
such as white hair, hair loss or wrinkles. Some shedim have entire so-called “Ring of Fire” (volcanoes that dot the Pacific
been known to literally consume the bodies of the victims Rim) acts up, wreaking havoc and destruction. Some areas only
whom they have drained to death. suffer minor turbulence such as tremors or ash fallout. Others

are devastated as volcanoes explode, clouding the sky with many opportunities. General Saito may send “expendable
choking ash and hot particles. Lava flows, earthquakes and assets” into an area ahead of his soldiers to “soften it up.” Saito
tidal waves take their toll, sweeping away entire towns and may also use runners to sow dissent and spark violence
decimating populations. between local Humanis and racist groups in the Central Valley
and the metahuman populations. When violence erupts, Saito
THE CHILD EMPEROR can then move his soldiers in and secure the area under the
With the death of the Emperor and the ascension of a four- pretense of restoring order. Saito also helps out the Yakuza
teen-year-old boy to the divine mantle, the political structure behind the scenes, assisting them in wiping out opposition and
of Japan becomes fractured and divided. Protected by a regent, expanding their influence.
mysterious invulnerability, Yamatetsu support and other shad- In areas under Saito’s control, institutionalized racism will
owy backers, the child Emperor issues a number of decrees be extremely evident. Metahumans will be openly discriminat-
that put Japan’s leadership on edge. Almost overnight, their ed against, forced to follow special regulations and may even
traditions and customs are manhandled and revised, and there be rounded up into internment camps. Squads of pro-Saito
seems to be very little they can do about it. racist militias will run the streets, beating and terrorizing
As factions coalesce and fragment, the opportunities for metahumans and other “undesirables.” Some metahumans will
shadowrunners explode in number. Many hardliners seek to kill fight back, either by simply standing up for their rights or by
or depose the child before he can do more harm, and rumors going underground and supporting the Metahuman People’s
abound of the Emperor even setting up fake assassination Army. The MPA and allied groups intensify their campaign of
attempts to assert his divinity. Everyone wants to know who is guerrilla warfare, and the People’s University (see p. 72,
pulling the Emperor’s strings and many more would like to Target: Matrix) becomes a focus point of their struggle.
seize those strings if they could. Others throw their weight Shadowrunners may become involved either as targets of racist
behind the Emperor, hoping to take advantage of the situation sanctions or in support of the MPA.
and further their own ends.
When Imperial troops are recalled en masse throughout ARES AND SILICON VALLEY
the world, to return and help rebuild Japan, Japanese domi- When news spreads of the Imperial Marines recall, Ares
nance in several countries falters. The troop pullout has massive turns their eye toward San Francisco. If not for Saito, the corp
consequences in both California (see p. 106) and the Philippines may have attempted to seize power there. Instead, Ares finds
(see p. 126), but other countries such as Peru and Australia are itself moving to protect its own assets in the area from poten-
affected as well. Many Japanacorps who relied on the Imperial tial invasion.
Marines to sustain their power suddenly find themselves out in Lt. Col. Lloyd Ritter, a.k.a. Grey Knight, is handling Ares’
the cold. These corps are forced to establish other means of information gathering and black ops in the area, and will make
intimidation or back out of dangerous situations. ready use of shadowrunners. In addition to datasteals and sab-
otage missions, Ritter may send shadowrunners to establish
CHAOS IN CALIFORNIA contact with MPA cells or to support them with direct action.
The devastation caused by the Ring of Fire shakeup strikes Shadowrunners may also be hired to smuggle weapons or per-
the Bay Area as well, damaging Berkeley and Oakland much sonnel into or out of Saito-controlled areas. As mentioned in
more heavily than San Francisco. The real shock hits when the Corporate Download, Ares will sometimes offer to pay runners
Imperial Marines are ordered to pull out, leaving the in hardware instead of cash.
Japanacorp beachhead in CalFree vulnerable. A shifty Imperial Ares has also established a connection with Grania
officer comes to their rescue, staging a coup and refusing the O’Malley’s pirates, based out of the Big Sur coast. Ares sup-
Emperor’s orders to withdraw. A large force of Imperial plies O’Malley with goods, cred and intelligence on prize pira-
Marines stays behind, bolstered by corporate security forces. cy targets and in exchange the pirates sneak shadow opera-
Almost immediately, General Saito begins a campaign to bring tives onto the San Francisco docks and hinder Saito with pirate
more of California under his control. In the process, his under- raids. Generally, the pirates use small, fast and quiet vessels to
lying racist agenda seeps out. sneak past the small naval presence that Saito runs out of his
small empire. These small vessels, relying on speed and
SAITO’S EMPIRE stealth, have even been used to board and commandeer
General Saito’s refusal, coup and subsequent offensive Saito’s military vessels, which has not endeared the pirates to
opens up limitless possibilities for shadowrun activity. The runners the General. Fortunately for the pirates, Saito has had bigger
may initially be hired to help Saito seize power by kidnapping fish to fry so far.
important officials, intimidating officers and troops into support-
ing him or seizing useful assets. In the aftermath, runners may find THE CITY OF ANGELS
work rescuing captives, sneaking fugitives out of the city or col- The lines are not as clearly drawn in Los Angeles, but there
lecting information on the new regime for outsiders. are still plenty of opportunities for shadowrunners. SURGE had
As Saito begins to expand his influence into California, a significant impact on the entertainment industry, as some
seizing Sacramento and other critical areas, shadowrunners changeling stars went into hiding and others rose to the fore.
who don’t care about where their money comes from will have Shadowrunners may find work bodyguarding a changed star

from paparazzi and stalking fans or protecting a rising new star the Aztlan offensive—falter, their outlooks twisting and per-
from an embittered has-been who wants to see the new verting until they walk the toxic path. These toxic shamans
blood’s blood. Trid-snoops may hire shadowrunners to track aggravate the situation even further, pushing the boundaries of
down stars in hiding to expose their changeling natures to the brutality and slaughter, and even turning on their own allies.
world. Meanwhile, in the Los Angeles ghettoes, SURGE stirs up The Yucatán jungle, once a place of vibrant mystery, full
old hatreds and forges new ones, leading to a new round of of life and magic, suffers a severe shock. The nature spirits of
gang warfare. the region, faced with extinction or corruption, begin to fight
The earthquake that strikes Los Angeles hits well over a back of their own accord. At the same time, toxic spirits
month after the Ring of Fire eruption, but it is still significant in grow more numerous and powerful and also take more of a
scope. As the walls between the impoverished underclass and direct hand.
the pampered elite come tumbling down, all Hell breaks loose. What causes the storms, earthquakes and tidal waves that
The upper crust scampers to hire bodyguards to protect their shatter the region? Did the Earth itself rebel against the
bodies and homes from riotous mobs, while competitive stu- onslaught, or was it the work of nature spirits? Did toxic forces
dios and jealous stars take advantage of the chaos to strike out summon the disaster to further ruin the place, or was it a last,
at old enemies. desperate attempt by the Yucatán rebels and their Amazonian
The arrival of the Pueblo military and new regime is both allies? And if so, who taught them such great rituals of power,
welcomed and reviled. A token resistance is put up by some and what cost did they pay in lives and sanity? No one knows
gangs and die-hards, but the occupation itself is a fait accom- for sure, but the calamity serves one purpose: it levels the play-
pli. Aztlan throws as many wrenches into the gears as they can, ing field. In the aftermath, rebel and Aztlan troops alike are
hiring runners to sabotage Pueblo supply lines, organize local broken. As they begin to withdraw and regroup, opposing
militias and otherwise hinder the occupation. Many corps and spirits continue to battle, fighting over the very future of the
bigwigs opt to escape from the unstable situation, hiring smug- Yucatán. Will it be returned to its natural bountiful state, or will
glers to take them to greener pastures. The Pueblo military also toxic forces prevail, rendering the area a lifeless wasteland?
takes advantage of unofficial help, using runners to seize cer-
tain objectives, pacify violent street gangs, make deals with JUNGLE WAR
certain local figureheads (“support us or else”) and otherwise There are many ways in which characters can become
pave the way. involved in the Yucatán war. Mercenaries are in demand by
The one kink to Pueblo’s occupation plans is the Mojave both sides; while Aztlan offers better pay and benefits, the
Desert. Normally a place of strong spirits, wild magic and odd rebel cause may appeal to some sympathies. Getting in to sup-
critters, the Mojave is an even more dangerous place to dwell port the rebels will be an adventure unto itself, as the Aztlan
since the comet’s passing. Pueblo forces quickly find that occu- blockade around the Yucatán intensifies in order to deny the
pying the Mojave isn’t an easy task, and rumors fly of a “Siren rebel’s aid. As a result, profits for smuggling weapons, per-
of the Sands” that lures soldiers off into the desert by mirages sonnel and other goods skyrocket—as does the danger.
and whispers, never to return. Runners may find work looking Aztechnology also goes so far as to hire mercenaries to
into these disappearances, or they can opt for the more lucra- infiltrate the rebel side in order to gather intelligence, spread
tive but dangerous mission of talislegging under the watchful confusion and strike from within. The war within the jungle
eyes of Pueblo troops. should shock the characters with its intensity and brutality.
Miles of jungle are being razed, whole villages are massacred
WAR IN THE YUCATÁN and chemical poisons pollute the air and water.
The Aztlan offensive in the Yucatán is quick, mean and Runners may also get involved elsewhere in the world, as
dirty. The Aztlan/Aztechnology leadership has had enough of rebel supporters escalate attacks against Aztlan and
this brushfire rebellion in their backyard, because in their minds Aztechnology targets. The runners may be hired to assassinate
they have more serious political/military situations brewing. Azzie leaders, damage Azzie Matrix systems or to perform
The order comes down to crush the Yucatán rebel threat once structure hits against Azzie installations. By elevating the costs
and for all, by whatever means necessary. Given that the rebels of the war, the sympathizers hope to force Aztlan to withdraw.
are entrenched in the jungles and native villages, the Azzies Other anti-Aztlan forces—such as Pueblo, CAS and
opt for a campaign to flush them out with fire and chemicals, Amazonia—will take the opportunity to jump on the band-
destroying the very jungles and villages they hide behind. wagon, sponsoring runs on their own under the guise of sup-
The campaign is initially extremely effective; the rebels are porting the rebel cause.
routed and thrown into disarray. But the massive despoliation,
bloodshed and chemical poisoning have severe repercussion. TOXIC ZONES
Shamans and spirits on both sides of the conflict are wracked The Aztlan military uses unbelievable amounts of chemi-
with psychological pain as the mana of the region becomes cals in the Yucatán, from defoliants and insecticides to neuro-
tainted with ruin and devastation. Some shamans are forced to toxins and biowarfare agents. Fire and napalm are also used
flee to save their sanity, others that remain struggle under the extensively to burn down large areas of jungle. As a result,
psychic onslaught of the mass destruction and the corruption of most of the Yucatán becomes contaminated to a degree and
nature. Many shamans—including most of those working with several areas become uninhabitable toxic zones.

The chemical contamination should have a serious effect and ruined Earth, and the shaman’s totem is likely to urge the
upon characters in the Yucatán. When they are being deployed character to either flee or do all he or she can to fight for and
by the Azzies, the effects will depend on the exact compound protect the Yucatán ecology. Spirits summoned by the shaman
being used. For rules on chemicals and their effects, see pp. may be reluctant to enter certain areas, and will become more
101–123, M&M. Even when they are not being directly reticent and less helpful in general. The gamemaster may feel
employed against characters, hoever, the runners may suffer ill free to inflict the character with an appropriate Mental Flaw or
effects. Clouds of particle-bearing smoke, noxious fumes and other penalty (such as 1 box of unrecoverable Stun damage)
other gases drift across the Yucatán. The air has a chemical during this period, to reflect the psychic trauma. No shaman
tang, and most sources of drinking water will be tainted. characters should ever be driven to the point where they
Simply passing through some areas may make the characters become toxic (though they may hear the call … ). If a shaman
ill, as will the buildup of accumulated toxins in the characters’ character does turn toxic, he or she should immediately be
systems over time. handed over to the gamemaster as an NPC.
As the war progresses, the cases of spontaneously
Toxic Rating appearing spirits (see p. 98, MITS) in the Yucatán jungles will
As a simple method of portraying this effect, the increase dramatically. Toxic spirits will also play more of a role,
gamemaster can simply assign each area a Toxic Rating potentially hindering or attacking characters.
between 1 (light) and 10 (deadly wasteland). The rating for a
particular area can be determined quickly AFTERSHOCKS
by rolling 1D6 (areas with ratings of 7 or We cannot possibly hope to cover all of
higher are rare, and should be used spar- the changes that occur throughout the world
ingly). For every day spent in an area with TOXIC RATING TABLE of Shadowrun as a result of the events
a Toxic Rating, characters must roll a Toxic Rating Damage described in Year of the Comet. The
Damage Resistance Test (using Body) 1 2L Aftershocks chapter offers a few samples of
against a Damage Code based on the 2 3L the repercussions and changes being
Toxic Rating Table. Chemsuits and other 3 4M wrought elsewhere. The gamemaster is
protective systems will protect the charac- 4 5M encouraged to invent more, as appropriate
ter from these effects as described. Open 5 6M for his or her setting.
wounds will aggravate the problem; 6 6S
increase the target number by the Wound 7+ (Rating)D THE PHILIPPINE REBELLION
Modifier for the character’s Physical Like other scenarios described in this
wounds (but not Stun). Likewise, the pol- book, the Philippine rebellion provides
lutants will affect medical procedures per- ample room for shadowrunners to become
formed on characters inside a toxic zone, so apply the area’s involved in disaster relief, opportunistic black ops, smuggling,
Toxic Rating to the target number for first aid and other pro- piracy, guerrilla warfare or corporate espionage—and that’s
cedures. just the beginning.
The rebellion is just starting, and where it ultimately leads
Critters is up to the gamemaster. The Japanese corporations may rally,
Though the effects will, in most cases, not be immediate- using their influence to squash the revolt. The conflict may
ly apparent, many critters in the Yucatán jungle will suffer from draw out for years, with both sides giving and taking but no
toxic poisoning. Most of these creatures will simply sicken and clear winner surfacing. Or the Huk revolution may succeed in
die. However, some may develop mutations as a result of the driving the Japanese power structure out of their country—but
chemical exposure. Use the rules provided for Mutant Critters what then?
and Toxic Critters on p. 15 and p. 17 (respectively) of the
Critters book in the SR3 Gamemaster Screen. THE SONS OF THE ALAMO
If their success continues, the Sons of the Alamo may see
Spirits and Shamans their goals realized—an open border war between the CAS and
When an area becomes toxic, it becomes the domain of Aztlan, with the possibility of Texas land being reclaimed by
toxic spirits. Since only toxic shamans can summon toxic spir- the CAS. While hostilities are certainly escalating, there are
its, other magicians who summon nature spirits cannot do so conflicting forces within the CAS: those that support the Sons
while in a toxic domain. Nature spirits and spirits of the ele- of the Alamo and those that fear a war with Aztlan may result
ments capable of crossing domain lines can enter a toxic in a loss for the CAS. Will Aztlan stoically put up with the ter-
domain, although they are reluctant to do so. For details on rorist attacks, or will they sponsor sanctions of their own?
using toxic shamans and toxic spirits, see p. 124, MITS. Shadowrunners may play into this conflict in a number of
If a shaman player character is in the Yucatán during this ways. They may be hired to support the Sons of the Alamo on
period, he or she will undergo a period of discomfort as the actions, or they may be hired to root the Sons out and expose
destruction takes its toll on the environment. The character or eliminate them. Aztlan may hire runners to infiltrate the Sons
may be plagued by nightmares or horrible visions of a tainted of the Alamo, or to pose as them and commit heinous acts of

terrorism to destroy the Sons’ public support. Aztlan may lights. Chaos ensues. Coleman will attempt to escape from the
decide to take the war to the CAS, paying runners to blow runners, believing the blackout to be a ploy to kidnap him. The
things up in response to Sons of the Alamo attacks. runners will have to contend with the party’s security, drunken
and panicked partygoers, no lights and a reluctant Coleman as
ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD they try to get him to safety.
The groups and events described in this book are just the
beginning. Around the world, much more is going on. How THAT’S THE SPIRIT
does Tir Tairngire respond to the General Saito’s expansion? In Denver in late January of 2062, the runners are hired by
How does the Ute react to Pueblo’s annexation of Los a man they will later recognize as Nicholas Whitebird,
Angeles? Do the Shining Path guerrillas renew their offensive Ghostwalker’s emissary. Whitebird will ask the runners to track
in the wake of the Japanese military pullout in Peru? How does down and locate a hermetic mage named Gervaise Brooks.
SURGE affect the sprawls and corporations in Europe? How do Whitebird will be able to describe Brooks, but knows only that
authorities respond to comet cult murders in Vladivostok? he will be found in the Aztlan Sector and that “there may be
If the gamemaster is running a campaign set in an area of more to him than meets the eye.” Whitebird wants Brooks to
the world not directly described in Year of the Comet, he or be captured and delivered back to him.
she will need to determine how exactly that area is affected Unknown to the runners, Gervaise Brooks is in fact one of
by the year’s events. Are any corporate facilities in the area the identities of a fragment of the Great Spirit of Denver that
involved in the probe race? What comet cults pop up? Is the calls itself Rojo. The runners will have to sneak into the Aztlan
area damaged by SURGE riots or the natural disasters that Sector (under heavy alert to guard against Ghostwalker), tracks
occur when the Ring of Fire acts up? Do any of the revolutions Brooks down and attempt to capture him. Rojo will use spells
or wars impact the area, or does a local conflict break out? Do and trickery to escape, and will only reveal his true nature if
any of the area’s leaders turn into changelings? Is there an there is no other choice. The runners should find it difficult to
outbreak of shedim from the local morgue or cemetery? The capture a free spirit. If the runners discover that they are actu-
gamemaster should carefully weigh the events and determine ally being employed by Ghostwalker and Rojo learns of this,
how best to involve the characters locally, with an eye they may be able to convince him to go willingly if they can
towards global affairs. convince him that he will not be “punished.”
To complicate matters, the CAS invades the Aztlan sector
ADVENTURE IDEAS in the middle of the run. If the runners succeed and bring
The following adventure ideas represent just a few of the Brooks/Rojo back to Whitebird, Ghostwalker himself will be
possibilities for Year of the Comet based adventures. there to take the spirit into custody. Rojo is a great form city
spirit with Force of 9, Spirit Energy 5, and the powers of astral
LIGHTS OUT gateway, aura masking, dispelling, human form, personal
The runners are hired by Shiawase to keep an eye on Mark domain, sorcery and wealth.
Coleman, the scientist responsible for designing the sensor pack-
age on Shiawase’s Brahe comet probe. Coleman has an invitation BAGGING A BODY
to attend a comet party being hosted by a simsense star on the This adventure requires the death of a player character. It
roof of a penthouse downtown. Shiawase is worried that someone is not advised to kill a character just for the purposes of this
may attempt to extract Coleman, and provides the runners with adventure; it should simply be kept in store in the event that a
passes to the party to guard Coleman without his knowledge. character dies.
Unfortunately for the runners, an Ares spy within Shiawase When one of the shadowrunners dies, his or her body will
receives word of their mission and decides to have some fun. become host to a powerful shedim spirit before it can be dis-
During the height of the comet party, the Ares agent arranges posed of properly. If the dead character is interred at a morgue,
for Coleman to be informed that the shadowrunners are work- left behind at a massacre, buried in a cemetery or otherwise left
ing for Aztechnology and that they are present at the party to in the vicinity of other corpses, these other bodies will also
extract him. Coleman will become nervous and jittery, and will become vessels of shedim spirits.
attempt to keep his distance from the runners. He does not The other characters should learn of the stolen bodies
want to alarm the party’s host, but he tries to stick near the through news reports, or perhaps through a contact who’s
party’s security. wondering why their old buddy is still walking. The runners will
A short while later, a temporary blackout strikes the pent- then have to track down their old friend and put him (and the
house—the work of a Matrix comet cult trying to dim the other corpses) to rest, stopping a shedim zombie rampage.

INDEX
A Brahe, 17 Denver, 59-75
Bridging the Void, 48, 51 Dermal Deposits, 141
Adams, Jeremiah, 47, 48, 146
Devil rats, 36
Adventure ideas, 157
Ale’l Menatis, 48-50, 146 C Dragon, 145-46
first sighting, 56-59
Altered eye color, 139 California chaos, 154-55
rampage of, 59-75
Altered skin coloration, 139 California Rangers, 111
Dragonson, David, 44-46, 131-33, 145
Antarctica, 84 Capacitor Bug, 35
Drucus, Jan, 81
Ares Macrotechnology Carribean League, 91
Dual Natured, 140
Japan’s military recall and, 108 Cataclysts, 18
Duccio, 15, 16
launch facilities, 14 Changelings, 26
Dunkelzahn Rift, 55-59, 147-48
probe race, 13-16, 19, 137 genetic expression, 28
Silicon Valley and, 108, 154 interview with, 34-35
Asamando, 84-85 SURGE clubs, 32-34 E
Assassination, 21 Characters, 138 Earthquakes, 108, 113-14, 123-24, 155
Astral hazing, 139 Chemical weapons, 116, 119 Edge, 143
Astral projection, 96 Children of the Dragon, 42-46, 131-33, Eisa, Ibn, 53-54, 146-47
Astral security, 37 145-46 Enzu Volcano, 108
Astral sight, 140 Chronic Osteocuspus, 139 Eta Aquirid meteor showers, 10
Astral space, 80 Church of the Undying Light, 50-52, 146 Euphoria, 12
Atlantean Empire, 48-50, 146 Claws, 141
Atlantean Foundation, 86 Comet parties, 112-14 F
Avebury, England, 85 Compromising data, 21
Falloon, Jeremy, 63, 67-74
Awakening, 5, 8, 26 Confederated American States (CAS)
Fangs, 141
Azania, 85 Aztlan and, 72-75, 130-31, 148,
Feathers, 140
Aztechnology ` 156-57
Federated Boeing, 18, 19, 86
orichalcum and, 149 Council of Denver/Ghostwalker
Feline Eyes, 141
probe race, 18, 19 meeting, 67-75
Feng shui, 78-79
Spindle agreement, 17-18 Ghostwalker’s rampage, 61-64
Flaws, 140
Yucatan offensive, 155 response to zombie attacks, 91
Fractured Helix, 33
Aztlan Council of Denver, 67-75
Front Range Free Zone, 64, 75
CAS and, 130-31, 148, 156-57 Covert operations, 110
Council of Denver/Ghostwalker Creches, 44, 133
meeting, 67-75 Critters, 156 G
Ghostwalker’s rampage, 61, 63-65 Critter Spook, 139 Gagarin, 18, 19, 20, 137
orichalcum site, 85 Cross, Marcus, 91-92 Game information, 134-57
removal from Denver, 67-75 Cults, 42, 46-48, 51 Ghost Dance, 123
treaty violations, 63-64 Cultural Protection Laws, 111 Ghost stories, 55-75, 147-48
Yucatan offensive, 115-25, 155 Cyclops, 139-40 Ghostwalker
appearance of, 56-59
B D arsenal of, 62
and Council of Denver, 67-75
Bagging a Body adventure, 157 Deathly Aura, 151
rampage of, 59-65, 148
Barai, Ellen, 51-52, 146 DeBeers-Omnitech, 81, 82
state of the Front Range Free Zone
Be’nahven, Miroth, 48-49, 146 Asamando contract, 84-85
address, 75
Berkeley/Oakland sprawl, 106-11 Azania connection, 85
Gigas, 14-15, 19, 137
Bio-Rejection, 139 orichalcum and, 149
Gills, 141
Black market, 149 unnamed island mining operation, 86
Glomoss, 37, 144
Blackout initiatives, 10 Defensive stance, 21
Goblinization, 22, 24-28, 137, 141
Blood mages, 121 Demon rat, 36-37, 143
Gotterbote, 137

Grande zombie, 90 K O
Gray Arrow, Lucinda, 63, 67-74
Kalheim, Elizabeth, 63-64, 67-74 O’Malley, Grania, 110-11, 154
Karma Drain, 153 Onsite penetration, 21
H Karma Pool, 151 Operation Rancho Obrero, 119
Halley’s Comet Kazama, Shobo, 100, 102 Orichalcum
arrival coincidence, 8 Kepler, 18, 137 black market, 149
euphoria, 12 Kidnapping, 21 composition, 83-84
historical facts, 8-10 Knight, Damien, 106 discovery, 81
images of, 10-11 hot sites, 84-87
interest in, 8 L refining process, 84
magical effects of, 6, 8 rush, 83-87, 148-49
Launch sites, 14-20
myths about, 9-10 worth, 84
Lights Out adventure, 157
panic, 12 Orionids meteor shower, 10
Lofwyr, 64
psychological effect of, 8 Ork Rights Committee, 30
Long Tail, 141
religious significance, 11
Los Angeles, 112-14, 154-55
scientific findings, 9 P
Low Frequency Hearing, 141
vacation packages, 12
Lunar eclipse, 10 Pacific Prosperity Group, 18, 149
visibility of, 8, 10
Panic, 12
Hestaby, 64
High Frequency Hearing, 141 M Parageologist, 83-84
Peru, 85
Hindrance, 21 Magic, 5, 148-49
Phillipine rebellion, 125-30, 156
Hisato-Turner, 19, 137 Mana curve, 8
Pirates, 110-11, 154
Horned bear, 38, 144 Mana level, 29
Planetary conjunctions, 10
Horns, 141 Manasphere, 6
Pointed Ears, 140
Houngans, 91 Mana storm, 75, 129
Politics, 31-32
Hualpa, 64 Manta ray, 38
Pope, Jonathan, 64, 67-74
Hubble II upgrade, 10 Marsupial Pouch, 141
Positive SURGE effects, 140-43
Huhuseca, William, 64, 67-74 Masaru, 64
Prehensile Tail, 142
Huk revolution, 130, 156 Matrix grids, 72
Probe race, 6, 8, 13-14
Humanis Policlub, 47-48, 137, 146, 148 Mayan calendar, 8
contenders, 14-20
Human Nation, 109 Metahumanity, 31-32
game information, 137
Hysteria, 145 Metahuman People’s Army, 110-12
launch sites, 14-20
Meta-retrovirus, 29
publicity overload, 134
I Meteor showers, 10
Probe running, 20-21
Mile-high dragon city, 148
Image sites, 10-11 Production interference, 21
Mitsuhama Computer Technologies, 102,
Improved Scent, 141 Proteus, 16-17, 137
128-29
Improved Taste, 141 Publicity overload, 134
Mojave Desert, 114, 155
Infiltration, 21 Pueblo Corporate Council
Morningstar, Joshua, 131-33, 145
Information gathering, 21 Council of Denver/Ghostwalker
Mujaji, 64
Inhabitation, 151-53 meeting, 67-75
Mundane humans, 29, 138
Islamic Unity Movement, 53-54, 146-47 Ghostwalker’s rampage, 63
grid control, 72
J N Los Angeles occupation plans,
Natural disasters, 98-101, 108, 123-24, 113-14, 155
Jade Dragon, 80-81
128
Japan
current events, 104-5
Natural Venom, 142 Q-R
Nature, 35-36
Diet, 100, 103-4 Quingming holiday, 78
Negative SURGE effects, 139-40
disaster in, 153-54 Raids, 21
Nepal, 85
emperor’s death, 101-4 Ramirez, Hector, 63, 67-74
New Islamic Jihad, 52-54, 146-47
government, 100 Religious groups, 11, 42-54
Night Manta, 38-39, 144
military recall, 106-8 Renraku, 51
Night of Rage, 30-31
natural disaster, 97-101 Resistance to Disease, 142
Night rider, 86
Phillipine rebellion, 125-30 Resistance to Poisons, 142
Novatech, 16, 19, 137
Jungle war, 155 Retractable Claws, 143
Rhonabwy, 64

Rift disturbances, 147-48 Spindle agreement, 17-18 Ukraine, 86
Ring of Fire, 128, 153-54 Spirit, toxic, 156 Unexplained Genetic Expression
Riots, 25 Spirit Energy, 151 (UGE), 137
Ritter, Lloyd, 154 Spirit war, 124-25 Unity policlub, 61-62
Ryumyo,64 Sprawl dwellers, 10 Unnamed island, 86
Sublimation, 49 Unusual Hair, 140
S Subterfuge, 21 Unzen Volcano, 98-101
Sudden Recessive Genetic Expression Ute, 64, 67-75
Saeder-Krupp, 15-16, 137
(SURGE), 22, 24-25
Saito, Keiji, 154
in campaigns, 137 V
background on, 109
causes of, 28-29
coup of, 108 Velox, 14-15, 19, 137
characters and, 138
funding of, 109 Vestigial Tail, 140
classifications, 27-28
metahumans and, 111-12 Violence, 25, 30-31
clubs, 32-34
military campaign, 109-11 Violet Cross, 119
creating own effects, 143
San Francisco, 106-11 Voice of Ogoun, 91
crisis, 30-31
San Francisco Corporate Council, 109 Volcanoes, 108, 128
effects, 35-36, 139-43
Sangre del Diablo, 39-40, 144
impact of, 29-30
Sangre del Drago, 39
Satyr Legs, 143
Los Angeles and, 113 W
NPCs and, 143
Scales, 140 Whipple, 15, 19
overview, 26-27
Second Awakening, 84 Whitebird, Nicholas, 67-74, 75
paranormals, 36-41
Second Korean War, 97 Wu Lung Wei, 78-80
politics, 31-32
Self-Defense Force, 97 Wuxing Corporation, 77-83
response to, 134, 137
Seventh Seal, 46-48, 146 Avebury connection, 85
science of, 26-30
Shamans, toxic, 121-24, 156 Nepal connection, 85
severity determination, 138
Shambler, 40-41, 144-45 orichalcum rush, 148-49
social interaction and, 143
Shedim spirits, 92, 149-50 unnamed island mining operation,
test, 138
astral forms, 150-51 86
wake up call, 25-26
conjuring and, 151
Swallowtail Butterfly, 35-36
general tips, 93 Y-Z
habits/behaviors, 93-94
handling of, 94 T Yamatetsu, 18, 20, 128, 137, 154
Yamato Spirit, 109
health risk, 92-93 Talons, 141
Yasuhito, 102-4, 154
Karma Pool, 151 Temple of the Dragon, 44
Yomi Island decree, 129
long-term solutions, 94 That’s the Spirit adventure, 157
Yucatan War
overview, 95-96 Thermographic Vision, 143
jungle war, 155
powers, 151-53 Third Eye, 140
manafield consequences, 120-21
sightings, 150 Timeline, 134, 136-37
natural disasters during, 123-24
Spirit Energy, 151 Toxic ratings, 156
other side, 118-19
as univited guests, 96 Toxic zones, 155-56
plea for help, 115-18
Shiawase, 17, 18, 137 Trans-Orbital, 19, 137
shamans and, 121-23
Shibata Construction and Engineering, Treaty of Denver, 63-64
toxic zones, 155-56
17-18, 19, 137 Tribal Council, 148
view from front, 119-20
Shipment interference, 21 Tusks, 140
Zombie
Sioux, 62-63, 67-75 Typhoons, 128
attacks, 87-90
Slattery legislation, 31-32
national alert, 92-93
Slow Healer, 140 U Zone Defense Force, 73
Snowdonia, Wales, 85-86
UCAS
Social interaction, 143
Council of Denver/Ghostwalker
Solar eclipse, 10
meeting, 67-75
Sons of the Alamo, 130-31, 156-57
creche clashes, 133
Sons of Sauron, 47
Ghostwalker’s rampage, 61-63
SOTA tech, 21
orchalcum sites, 86
Space industry, 13-21
shedim spirit situation, 93-94

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2 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 3

4 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 5

THE AWAKENED SKEPTIC

6 Year of the Comet

> Magister > Astro Boy

8 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 9

10 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 11

12 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 13

14 Year of the Comet

Thanks to its design, Duccio has the highest chance of fail-

16 Year of the Comet

> I was digging around a Shiawase sys-

Year of the Comet 17

18 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 19

20 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 21

[Begin Log : Meta Affairs SIG : 9 September 2061 at 21:23:04 PST]

> Hey, check this out.

22 Year of the Comet

24 Year of the Comet

26 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 27

28 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 29

30 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 31

32 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 33

THE CHANGELINGS JQ: What about your friends and family?

34 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 35

36 Year of the Comet

other hand, are hunters. They scavenge when necessary, but if

Year of the Comet 37

> So you’re saying these things are intelligent?

38 Year of the Comet

SANGRE DEL DIABLO

Year of the Comet 39

> Toxic, carnivorous trees? Remind me to support my local

40 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 41

CHILDREN OF THE DRAGON

42 Year of the Comet

44 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 45

46 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 47

> Miroth? What mother names her child Miroth?

48 Year of the Comet

Year of the Comet 49

50 Year of the Comet

> Let me get this straight. This group convinces corpo-