[Jack_Spade]

Ok, it took me a while to get things right, but here he is:

John "The Revenant" Henry

Description:
Humanoid, anthropomorphic drone chassis, type Direktionssekretar. Improved realistic features, making him look like a very average looking man of undetermined age and race, with black hair, slightly dark skin and obvious cybernetic eyes. Still triggers the uncanny valley effect, so people tend to remember him. Usually wears some kind of hat or headwear even indoors to keep his artificial hairs from being exposed to the environment (these things are expensive and hard to replace).

History:
How did I get to be like this? Good question. First of all, my name really is John Henry. My parents did for some reason think that their son should emulate a folk hero that died while working overtime for a blood sucking corporation in a competition against his mechanical replacement. Yeah, you can see where this is going – it’s not even ironic, just grotesque.

But to the beginning: I was born to Joseph and Maria Henry, somewhere in the south of North America. Where exactly is unimportant. They were loving parents and law abiding little wage slaves for one of the smaller AA corporations. They did have the wrong skin color to be anything more than external workers though. We weren't poor exactly, but somehow we always hovered at the edge of descending into poverty. One missed pay check and all that. College was of course the only possible destination for me – no matter how deep into dept they had to go for that.

I thought I was fucking clever to find a way around that. Hey Mom, hey Dad, guess what: I enlisted. Now the MET2000 (North America Branch) will pay for my education.
Yeah, that didn't go down well. But I had signed and already received and spent my first stipend.

To be fair, the mercenary company did it’s best to give me an education. They looked for certain talent and they found it with me. Namely, being an Anthro rigger. You see, despite everything else, training a human being does still cost significantly more than a machine you send into war – especially if your parent company produces the things and can push the bill on the customer. As Anthro rigger I must have visited almost every major conflict on earth while never leaving the base. Sure, the VR could really cause some bad headaches, but as long as you stayed in cold sim there wasn't really any danger. Especially not for me, since I was a piloting ace with my modified Direktionssekretar. Can you believe that they are selling those things on the open market as office helpers?

Anyway, I was good, really good. In the machine I had superhuman reflexes, felt no real pain, walked through fire, shot rebels at 500 paces, jumped over cars in a single bound and infiltrated desert camps. The only thing I missed was having a jet pack to be a real super hero. And if I needed a break, I could just leave the supped up pilot in control. But very soon I didn't need any breaks anymore. Tube in for nutrition, tube out for waste. Drib feed for certain drugs. Super soldier iron man, go!
And than I died.
No really, that’s what happened. The enemy was some kind of Technomancer. Somehow that freak managed to scramble my connection, commandeering my drone body while preventing me from locking out. So I did what every coked up teenager would do: I disengaged all safety protocols to act faster than him and get my body back. All I got was a body bag. I think it’s called a dissonance bomb or something. Sent it directly back to my station to kill my meat body instead of fighting my mind. My heart stopped, the medics tried to cut me off from the connection and subsequently fried my brain. Tragic. I only found out about that after I had killed the Techno with my climbing claws. Tried to log out and couldn't. Three days I wandered through the net before I lost consciousness. I awoke in an UV host where someone from the S-K explained to me that I was an AI now – a replica of a killed soldier.

They said they wanted to study what had happened to me, said they owned my mind’s image. I wasn't very happy about that. They were neither when they learned that I wasn't an omnipotent cyber god, but only a kid that was particularly good at playing very realistic first person shooters.

I probably would have stayed some kind of slave if it hadn't been for that group of shadow runners. You see, the host where I was imprisoned was chock full of secret research data. Somehow Nachthexe and her friends made it into the host’s foundation and disengaged the safety protocols – including all things slaved to the host. I took my chance and went straight for the most overpowered drone I could find – my new body. Complete with its full combat gear. And let me tell you: It’s damn near impossible to catch one of those assassin droids if they don’t want to be caught. It even looks almost like a normal human. Only my eyes tend to betray me.
My old life was in ruins, so I looked for a new one. I managed to find Nachthexe and her buddies and asked for a job. It was nearly as fun as my previous job, even though I seemed to have lost quite a few memories and skills I previously possessed. At least I believe I had them. Memory is a funny thing, especially if you no longer have a brain.

It didn’t take S-K long to track me down. But instead of recapturing me, they send this guy called Brackhaus, said he wanted me to do jobs for them – in exchange I was allowed to keep my equipment. So now I am on the run hiding in the shadows. And even though I don’t need to eat, living can be damn expensive if you want to keep your body in top condition.

Now you see why I said it didn't matter where I or my parents came from. Because their son is dead, buried and mourned. I’m just a ghost, a remnant. Or a revenant. Yeah, I think that will do. You can call me that. I’m the Revenant.

Prime Contacts:
Thomas “Brackhaus” Müller: Drone parts and programs supplier
Con 6/Loy 1:
Yes, yes I know, he probably isn’t the “Brackhaus”, but he works for S-K and he keeps supplying me with spare parts and all the other shit I need to keep running. In exchange I have to do runs for him. He isn’t too bad about it. So far I only had to assassinate one person and that had it coming.
How to describe him. 1.80 tall, fit, clean shaved Caucasian, no distinguishing features whatsoever. I mean it. I thing he was selected primarily because you can’t really remember him afterwards. Always wears a very expensive and probably armored suit and coat combo – even in summer. Never bothers with bodyguards, so I assume he is cybered up himself.

Anna “Nachthexe” Tschernenko: Technomancer, Shadow Runner and Information broker
Con 2 / Loy 3:
She is the one who rescued me from the UV host and gave me my first jobs. I think she might have a thing for me – at least she asked me if I could get into her toaster. A bit to freaky for my taste, but whatever. She is a solid friend and connection.
For looks, well in cyberspace she is a goddess. Beautiful, powerful and intelligent. In real life… well she would have been a good fit for my old body. A bit on the heavy side with not enough exercise, nerdy interests and could shower more often (yes, my drone body has a top of the line olfactory booster. It’s no picnic that I can tell you).

Bonus Contacts:
Ivan Solchet: Fence (Specialized on weapons and ammo)
Con 5 / Loy 2
My primary go to guy if I need some hardware. Gets most of his stock from some Russian military base, but has pretty much everything to sell if I give him time to look. I try not to contact him in person – he doesn’t know I am an AI and he probably would like to get his hands on my quarter of a million body.
You’ll recognize him if you meet him. The guy is enormous. Not just fat, although he has some to spare, but just huge at about 2,30. And no, he is a human, at least as far as I know. If not, he probably went a bit too far on that Troll reduction surgery. Keeps a beard like Rasputin and could probably wrestle a hippogriff.

Glisting Pete: Ghoul Chop shop garage
Con 2 / Loy 5
Pete buys and sells hot cars. I did change ownership for him a few times in the beginning, but soon grew out of it. To much risk for to little gain. From time to time I still bring him a car that I need to get rid off. Usually gives me a good price. He also doesn’t mind if there is still a body in the trunk. He calls it a snack.
His being a ghoul hasn’t slowed him down. Just got himself a pair of cyber eyes and a meat dryer in the basement. Quite a likable guy, likes to play cello and collects funny facts bottle caps. And he is a mage – if not a particular good one. But if need be, he can manage a manipulation spell or two.

Selma Roberts: Dispatch at KE
Con 3 /Loy 4
I helped Selma get rid of her abusive husband – a cop – and since than she throws information my way when I need it. She is really up to date on any gossip going on in the force. Helped me get out of quite a few sticky situations.
She is a fit 40 something. Despite not being on active duty, she trains as if she could at any moment be called to fill in a place with the Delta Force. She likes to invite me to jogging with her. It doesn’t really make any sense for me, but I enjoy the conversation – especially if she talks about what’s going on at the moment

Kurt Brown: Anarchist
Con 2 / Loy 5
Kurt is a hopeless revolutionary. Every week he has a new scheme to get rid of our corporation overlords. But he is a very clever bomb maker. Luckily so far he is also to cowardly to really go through with them. Usually he just blows them up somewhere in the wilds or sells his explosives to whoever finds his business address.
He is a dwarf and quite short even for that. Always wears a beret like old Che but can’t get the beard right. He really likes the work I did against a few of the big players. Hopefully he never realizes that I did most of that on behalf of S-K.

Sam Whats: Barkeeper
Con 3 / Loy 3
Irish pubs don’t have much to offer to me. I don’t drink, my karaoke is perfect and my drone body might be functional enough that I could pick up some drunken tourist, but really there wouldn’t be a point for me. Still, I like to hang out at “Whats That”. Sam is a funny girl and knows just about everyone. Also she has a great taste in music, making sure that the playlist is always just right.
Sam is an Elf from old Ireland before it became the Elf-Nation. As far as I know he even was in the IRA before he changed. Red hair, great figure and green eyes. That’s the other reason I like to hang out there – because you know – I might be dead, but I’m not that dead.

Jessica Kyle: Emergency service provider
Con 4 / Loy 2
I sometimes work for her as an EMT. Even got a Morgan Thundercloud kitted out with a Valkyrie module. Usually she sets me up with the really messy stuff. I really am glad that my body is totally waterproof and I can just shut off my nose. She isn’t a bad boss, just a bit bossy at times. But with a small company like hers she has to be hard so she can pay her employees on time.
She is in her early 50ies, colored light brown hair, does have slight signs of menopause but keeps herself in shape by dieting really hard. She could eat a bit more in my opinion. But she programmed her fitness drone herself and follows its orders to the letter. Has amazing willpower.

Street Name: John "the Revenant" Henry
Race: AI (E-Ghost)   
(Karma Build)
CHA   4
INT   6
LOG   5
WIL   5
EDG   3
DEP   3
Ess   6

Karma: 67/86
Money: 97.120

Qualities:
HELLO WORLD (Level 3),   
Lucky
Photographic Memory
Speed reading   
Social Stress (Technomancers)

Pilot Origins 3
Designer
Restricted Gear (Drone Pilot 6)   
Code Slinger (Control Device)

Persnickety Renter (Anthro-drones)   
Impassive
Did You Just Call Me Dumb?   
Distinctive Style   
Superhuman Psychosis
Prejudiced (Biased, S-K Management)
Records on File (S-K)

Skill Groups: 
Stealth      1
Influence    1
Acting       1

Skills:
Automatics   6 (Assault Rifles)
Computer     3 (Ownership Change)
Pilot Ground 1
Gunnery      1
Armorer      1
Intimidation 1
Software 1

Knowledge Skills:
Underworld         2
Small Unit Tactics 6 (Urban)
Philosophy         1
Military           3
Business           1
Drone Tech         5
Runner Culture     3


Autosofts (Rating 6):
Electronic Warfare
First Aid
Hardware
Lockpicking
Melee (Hand Razor)
Melee (Shock Hand)
Navigation
Language (German, English, Japanese, Korean)
Evasion
Maneuvering (Advanced Program: WTLM)
Stealth
Targeting (Defiance Ex Taser)
Targeting (Grenade Throwing)
Targeting (Ares Alpha)
Chemistry
Demolitions
Mechanic (Drone)
Academic Knowledge: Magical Theory
Academic Knowledge: Matrix Design
Street Knowledge: Small Unit Tactics

Academic Knowledge: Law (3)
Gear:

Drone Body:
S-K DIREKTIONSSEKRETAR
Pilot 6 ( 8 )
Sensor 6
Handl 6
Speed 5
Amphibious
Arm Optimization AGI +2, STR +3
Realistic Features 4
Multi Dimensional Co-Processor
20x Autosoft 6
Smartsoft
Cyberarm Gyromount (right arm)
2xCyberlimb optimization The Greatest (+1 Unarmed Attack)
x4 RETRACTABLE  CLIMBING CLAWS
Shock Hand
2x Hydraulic Jacks 6
Built-in toolkit (right leg)
Built-in medkit (left leg)
Large smuggling compartment ( r. arm)
Infrasonic Generator R4

HANDL	SPEED	ACCEL	BODY	ARM	PILOT	SENS
6	5G	2	4(0)	0	6 ( 8 )	6

AGI 8, STR 7, Realistic Features Rating 3
                     
Sensor Functions:                        
Ultrasound                        
Camera   (Flare compensation, Low-light vision, Thermographic vision)
Vision magnification
Olfactory scanner
Motion sensor
Omni-directional microphone (Audio enhancement 3, Spacial Recognizer; Select sound filter 1)
Laser Microphone (Audio enhancement 3, Select sound filter 3)
MAD scanner

Armor:
Ares Victory Wildhunt (Custom Protection (Rating 6 Chemical), Gel Packs, Electrical Insulation (Rating 6))
Helmet
Forearm Guards (Miniwelder)
Ballistic Mask



ARES BRIEFCASE SHIELD

Lifestyle:
Lifestyle (High) (Secure Workshop)

Weapons:
Ares Alpha
  Silencer/suppressor
  Shock pad
  Personalized Grip
  Easy breakdown (powered)
  Electronic firing
  Improved range finder
  Extreme environment modification 2
  Sling
  5x Extended Magazine 2

Defiance EX Shocker
  Personalized Grip
  Smartlink Internal
  Concealed quick-draw holster

Ammo:
APDS (Custom AP -1) x80
Gel rounds (+1 Damage) x80
Regular ammo (+1 Damage) x240
Taser dart (+1 Damage) x20
Tracker x10

Mini Grenade (Thermal Smoke) x3
Mini Grenade (Pepperpunch) x5
Mini Grenade HE x1

Grenade (Pepperpunch) x1
Grenade (HE) x0

Programms:
Virtual Machine
Tool Box
Signal Scrub
Encryption
Browse

ID:
Fake Sin 4 (Robert Asimov)
Fake Sin 2 (Peter Piazza)

Transport:
MORGAN (GROUNDCRAFT)
  Valkyrie Module
  Spoof Chip
  MORPHING LICENSE PLATE

Misc:
Autopicker (Rating 6)
Micro Tranceiver
Bagpack
6x Stealth Tags

[Raiderjoseph]

Finished the profile on Obsidian Portal for Vexboy.

[Beta]

Well, no suggestions on roles to fill, so will just to make ..... something.  Background is looking like it will either
- he was a trained by the Seraphim as a sleeper agent for future use, and refused to believe that the collapse of Cross meant the end of the Seraphim .... until now, when he is finally going to put his skills to his own use (although he still carries a grudge against Ares ... )
- he was, in essence, a cowboy in one of the NAN states, until he came out on the wrong side of dynastic struggles for the ranch.  He is not as naive as he looks and certainly has translatable skills, but he does still find some of the ways things are done in the city a bit odd.

As for abilities I'm leaning more towards information gathering and social than anything else.  Currently playing around with:
- disguise/forgery expert, probably accompanied by high con
- general decent social and perception skills, with maxed out (7) edge, to let him dabble in a number or areas as needed
- adept with high perception/senses and 'adept spell: shape change', letting him sneak around many places.

None of these really tie into obvious rolls on a run, other than being good at legwork, but I'll try to work one of them out to be at least vaguely useful after the information is gathered.

[BrickyardBabe]

@Beta: Forgery or Chameleon would be awesome! We could use the hell out of those if we're building an operator team. I've got a pile of social (Maxed CHA dryad) but its all in Con right now. If you're rocking the edge 7 build I don't know that I'll be able to chase you. Though if Adamu sticks with Aria's edge refresh rate, those 7 points might get stretched mighty thin.

@Jack_Spade: Fascinating as always.

@RaiderJoseph: Likewise, fascinating

@Adamu: Mechanical side is up on OP. Doing the contacts and bio now. The worst single-day snowstorm in NYC history kind of put a crimp in my plans yesterday.

I'm fearing I'm spread a little thin here, and I'm not as optimized as I normally like (Yeah yeah, I know, I'm still a fuckawful huge dice pool), but I'm going somewhere with this. To see my character inspiration (and character root, actually), I highly recommend going into fanfiction and reading Critias' "Rook" story. The young elven girl in the background when he's at the hospital in Tarislar is where I started.

[Black Bart]

@Brick do you think my character could fit a roll or rolls?

[Raiderjoseph]

@BrickyardBabe

I hope facinating is a good thing. I am still not sure what role my character could play if I am completely honest. I guess he would be good at getting into position to shoot someone as a plan b sorta thing in a negotiation. But I am not even sure there. Damn being a newb.

[BrickyardBabe]

@BB: Lemme take a look, hon, and get back to you. I think so, if you don't mind eating another negative quality in the face to get some more low level contacts. I'll snoop over your sheet.

@RJ: Fascinating is always good. I'm a terrible power gamer by trade, this is my first time not squeezing the maximum optimization out of my build. Interesting is always better than perfect. And a few of us are new or relatively new here. We're in good hands with Adamu and Jack_Spade. They're old hands. I've watched and read and theorized for a long time, but this is only my third "live" character, so don't sweat it, I'm not much less green than you. We'll make it work!

[Black Bart]

@BB man that'll get confusing haha. Chummer5 wouldn't let me take a whole lot of negs but feel free to look maybe Adamu will be lenient.

[BrickyardBabe]

Chummer5 also miscalculates terribly sometimes. And Adamu has said that as long as they're strictly enforced, its okay to go a little over on the negs.

[BrickyardBabe]

Its Who You Know (The Contacts Rundown)

Type 1

Cynthia "Sister" Mercy - Street Doc - L3/C2
Sister Mercy is an odd one. She tends to the street people, but she isn't a 'runner. She has to survive the day to day of the devil-rat-eat-rat world of Puyallup, but she doesn't gouge the clients. Sister Mercy is that rarest of creatures in the shadows, a true believer. A Bryn Mawr educated human physician, she believes in both the letter and the spirit of the Hippocratic oath. To her, one does harm by inaction as much as by action, and so even if she finds it morally repugnant, she will do her level best to patch up anyone who comes into her clinic, and charge them what she thinks they can afford. In another time and place, she'd be pulling down better than a hundred kay a year tending to the corp babies in some ivory tower, but like so many in the shadows, she had a moment where it all went hideously wrong. Now she does her best, underfunded and overworked in a small clinic made out of a converted storefront in Loveland. Prickly, waspish, and entirely too concerned with "doing the right thing" she is nonetheless a good friend to have, because no matter what happened, where it happened, and why, if you stumble into her clinic with a need for help, you'll get it, every damn time.

Johnny Chan - Fixer - L3/C5
Chan Kung-Hao, better known as Johnny Chan is a flamboyant, somewhat loud sort of man whose impresario tendencies and obsession with theatre cover a first-class mind a web of connections that a spider would envy. He is an ork, but a very human-looking one, legacy of a five year stint working for MCT- which pays for metatype reductions in its more "unsightly" employees. Transitioning from corporate life to shadow work was fairly easy: as a PR flack for MCT he met a lot of people, and those same interests he guarded as a sarariman could use deniable assets from time to time, and he found that he could still call most of the same people, just in a very different capacity. Leveraging what he had into a more secure position was likewise simple: he already knew how corporate security worked and how corporate minds thought, so he was a natural at setting up the sort of shadow warfare that corps engaged in most often. These days, he operates out of "Broadway Johnny's," a small jazz bar in downtown, figuring that KE and those who would wish him ill would look for an ex-corp ork shadow fixer in a hellhole like Puyallup or Redmond rather than the ritzy digs he now owns in a civilized part of the sprawl. Bluff, pleasant, with a quick wit the constitution of an ox, Johnny makes for an excellent fixer if one doesn't mind his little idiosyncrasies. He is also a not-inconsiderable physical adept, and has been known to take the odd job his own bad self, usually the sort that requires a combination of physical power and quick thinking.

Danielle Marie Emmannuelle - TerraFirst! Activist - L4/C1
Dani Emmannuelle is the sort of ecologically-minded flower child one would expect to find hanging out at Berkeley or tending a green farm in Snohomish rather than scraping out a living in the Plastic Jungles of Redmond, but it just goes to show that eco-terrorism takes all sorts. Young, blonde, and pretty, Dani is a zealot from her toes to the tips of her pointy ears, firmly believing that metahumanity is killing "The Great Mother" with our every little action. Bright but fragile and skittish, Dani very badly wants to be the sort that firebombs corporate headquarters and plants charges on Glenn Canyon Dam, but she has neither the skills nor the temperment. She is a horticulturist, not a homicidal terrorist, and her skills lie in the nurturing of life rather than the taking of it. This has not prevented her from exercising her skills as an environmental rebel, of course. Living in the plastic jungles offers Dani a great deal of growing space so long as she isn't too choosy about the particulars, and when she's not waving signs with the rest of her peers or throwing biodegradable waste at the trucks coming to and from Berkeley-Ingersoll, she has found that she has a particular talent for growing poisonous plants. Nightshade, Foxglove, Wolfsbane, and other, even rarer foliage fills a number of trenchers and little plots around her home and while she may not be the most physically imposing sort, even a holdout pistol can make quite the impression if the bullet is loaded with Dimethyl Sulfoxide and concentrated Digitalis. She makes a living supplying herbal remedies to the other unhappy residents of the Barrens and supports her cause by providing lethal tinctures to other eco-terrorists. Idealistic and rash, she is nonetheless a sweet girl, and more importantly for a shadowrunner, is easily manipulated if one plays to her beliefs and prejudices.

Alistair Silverstaff - Fence - L2/C3
Alistair is a businessman. No more, no less. Born in Tarislar, he "got the hell out before the dandelion pushers snapped him up or tore him down." He is a scarred-up old elf bearing the hallmarks of a dangerous childhood in Puyallup, but one that completely lacks any racial pride or prejudice. His business is a nameless little pawnshop in touristville, and he makes a killing off of the slumming downtowners who want to feel daring buying something of dubious legality in such a notorious part of the sprawl. Many of his customers are the sort of spoiled corp brat who can go running to daddy any time they have trouble with John Q. Public, too, so he doesn't worry too much about whether the appropriate licenses come with some of his products, coming or going. Those self-same corp brats also provide him with a few channels to move more exclusive stock in and out of Redmond; its amazing how many criminals the average white-collar working family actually knows, and a conspiratorial wink and a price break on this or that hot item that daddy doesn't want junior to own has opened a hell of a lot of doors for him.

"Sixpence" - Security Guard - L2/C2
   Its true, anyone who stays long enough in Tarislar ends up going to Deireadh an Tuarthiel at least once, either for their own injury or someone else's. The squalid, run-down old hospital is a horror show of inadequacies that nevertheless keeps on trying. Attacks, raids, shakedowns, chipped-out junkies with homemade shivs trying to score, and worse are all depressingly common at The Song of The End of The People, and only a few brave or stupid souls try to stop such misfortunes. Sixpence is one such person. One of the few humans who is welcome in Tarislar, Sixpence is a big, burly motherfragger with beady eyes and shoulders like a brick shithouse. He's never given his name, either to Nightshade or to anyone else she knows, and he got his street handle from always carrying a revolver that is never loaded with anything but handloaded ammunition, about which he once joked that it only cost him a penny a round that way. All that's commonly known about him is that he speaks with a Lambeth accent and that he showed up about five years ago in Tarislar where, if not welcomed, he is at least tolerated and afforded a modicum of courtesy.
   The stories about why he would come to Tarislar and take up providing security at Deireadh an Tuarthiel range from him paying off an old debt to providing security in exchange for feeding some under the table addiction all the way to him guarding the place in a solitary vigil for his lost love, hidden in a secret ward inside. No one knows the truth, but what is known is that Sixpence has extensive cyberware, a more than passing facility with weapons, and a stare that brooks no drek from anyone. No one messes with Sixpence, not unless they outnumber him by a considerable margin.

Type 2 (Freebies)

"Rook" Parris - Ancients Second-in-Command - L2/C7
Rook. The man, the myth, the legend. An intense, darkly handsome, staggeringly arrogant young elf, Rook has experienced a meteoric rise in Seattle, and no wonder. Born to Rhiannon and Count Evan "Blackwing" Parris, Rook was afforded- forced into, really- the very best training from a very young age. A gifted combat mage and warrior, and a charismatic if prejudiced leader, Rook has spent the three years in Seattle since his bridging making connections and leveraging power, and has risen to become the second in command of the Seattle Chapter of the Ancients, one of the largest gangs in any sprawl in the world. He is also the reason that Nightshade became a shadowrunner and a ganger herself. Living in virtual slavery for years, followed by the miserable, penniless, soul-crushing drag of the life of a Tarislar whore left Nightshade scared, meek, and utterly unable to conceive of fighting back against those that kept her down in the muck and the ash, and it wouldn't be until she saw Rook beat the absolute hell out of one of her johns- a Gianelli Soldato- and walk away, laughing, without a word of repercussion or a care in the world that she realized that the sprawl helps those who help themselves and if she got strong enough and fast enough and hard enough, maybe she could make something of her life.
   In the three and a half years since, Nightshade has done her best to take her childish hero worship and turn it into a greater understanding. She has emulated as many of the traits that brought Rook success as she could, and differed by necessity where she must. The two have even met in the course of their mutual business, he with the Ancients and she as a representative of the Ancients, The Brat'Mael, or as an independent operator. While it is unlikely that the two will ever be friends, Rook accords Nightshade the respect due any capable professional and the- perhaps grudging- admiration of seeing an elf so disadvantaged as she make it good.

Star Crow - Brat'Mael Lieutenant - L2/C6
Star Crow is a Sinsearach Elf, one of the originals back from the founding in 2029. Leaving with the rest of the Cénesté line of his tribe when they withdrew to form Tir Tairngire, Star Crow found himself out on the short end of the body politic, with allies who were powerful but not respected and thus unable to protect him from his more politically successful enemies. Choosing exile over probable death at the end of a short and bloody internecine conflict, Star Crow left for Seattle, and there he has remained since the early days of the Tir. While his allies could not help him stay within elven lands, sufficient threats of revealed secrets gave him enough leverage back in the Tir to make him of interest to The Laesa, who are always looking for new inroads into their former homes and the Brat'Mael, the Black Sun, who wish to eradicate non-elves from rightfully Elven lands. Twenty years of playing his shadow games has left Star Crow comfortably powerful in Seattle, a player in the Laesa and a successful agent of the Black Sun, and only a fervent wish to remain unnoticed by the Council of Princes has kept Star Crow from rising higher in the ranks of both organizations. He is content to remain in Tarislar, where his racism is in ample supply amongst his fellows and his access to news, goods, and persons from the Tir are most open.

Alfonso "Quim" Mancuso - Pimp - L1/C2
Alfonso is Nightshade's former pimp from when she'd just hit the streets, before she would drift into Tarislar and witness a fight outside a hospital and begin her own rise to power. A large troll- large even for a troll!- with an ugly disposition and a milky left eye, Alfonso is called "Quim" because it is the one thing he is good for. Alfonso preys on the down and out, like so many of his contemporaries, stringing them out on bliss and whoring them out at bargain rates. What makes him so repugnant even amongst bipedal vultures is his deal with the 162's. When one of his girls looks like she's breaking loose of his hold, or if she comes back a little too shop-worn and fixing her up requires more than a shoddy medkit in a back-alley bar, he loads her full of bliss and gives her to the ghouls. In exchange, the 162s leave him alone and watch out for him from time to time, so he can operate in the dangerous parts of the Verge relatively unmolested, because only a brain-job with nothing between the ears at all is going to cross a street pimp with the backing of a pack of cannibal murder-zombies for a drugged-up junkie slut. Worthless though he is, and often though Nightshade might fantasize about putting two in his back some dark night, Alfonso is useful. A lot of his girls have trodes in their working costumes and contacts and earbuds on for the ride- Alfonso sells the footage- and that means that he picks up the occasional useful tidbit. Its not enough for Nightshade to overlook his proclivities, but its enough to save his miserable life...for now.

Carissa Willowheart - Stripper - L6/C2
Carissa is a stunningly beautiful elf, no older than Nightshade herself. A stripper at The Cutting Edge downtown, she is one of Nightshade's few real friends. They came up together in Tarislar as teenagers, when Carissa found herself exiled from the Tir, smuggled in by Star Crow's associates and Nightshade was just coming out of a two-year bliss addiction. They were dossmates, then friends, then lovers, then just friends again. They held each other through nightmares, depression, and fears aplenty, and they've been inseparable ever since. Carissa found herself a patron, a young gunsel with more money than sense and a hard-on for pointy ears and red hair, and she used him as her ticket downtown. It was with her help that Nightshade got in bed with the Mafia for a little while, long enough to sell a lot of Yakuza secrets and start her own ascension from the streets on the back of that payday. She's since dumped the mobster, but she is gorgeous enough and friendly enough and skilled enough to support herself now, and she rents a small one-bed downtown, living perfectly comfortably as a single girl.
Carissa still hears things from friends she picked up while she was a mafioso's arm candy and hears more in the club from patrons trying to impress, and she passes the information on to Nightshade in exchange for a little discreet kick-artist work or the occasional party drug hookup. She and Nightshade still have lunch every couple of weeks, and occasionally go out on the town, usually on Carissa's unbegrudged dime. The two are good friends and occasional lovers, and Nightshade has backed Carissa to the hilt on more than one occasion. Literally, in some cases.

Gerhardt Mueller - Bouncer - L3/C3
A big ol' German ork's ork, Gerhardt Mueller is one of the bouncers at Basil's Faulty Bar in Tacoma. Thirty years old, with a chest you could land a T-Bird on, he is every inch the muscular, intimidating sort one expects to find at a shadowrunner bar. A full suite of slightly-outdated but still functional cyberware, including reflexes and laced bones- souvenirs of playing some semi-pro Urban Brawl, where he was being scouted for the New Orleans Tombstones before a spinal injury put him on the DL for six months- helps with his image and his reputation, but at heart Gerhardt is a very nice man. Basil's has shadow connections for those who know where to look, and many a young 'runner has found their first independent job there with a little gentle prodding. Nightshade is one such 'runner and it was Gerhardt who, by polite but pointed question, got her her first gig. SInce then, he's always had time for a quick chat or a few words of advice, or to tell her what the latest and greatest is in news and rumors. He's not a 'runner anymore, not with a kid sister to support, but for small jobs that require a little menace and a little muscle, he's usually willing to take on the extra work in order to pay for his sister Annah's medical expenses.

Jenny Whitemane - Prostitute - L5/C2
Jenny Whitemane is the extravagantly-named, stunningly gorgeous changeling prostitute who works at Loveland's Bump and Sleep. Named for her soft, thick, blindingly white hair, Jenny is a Class-II genefreak, with feline eyes, a tail, and retractable claws, along with the flexibility and natural grace and silence of the cat she vaguely resembles. A prostitute who loves her job is a rare thing, but Jenny fits the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold stereotype to a T, and she is exotic enough to make plenty of scratch without having to turn into another cold-eyed hustler. She works as an independent operator, paying the mafia for protection and a place to ply her trade rather than being in hock to them completely, and she is Nightshade's primary method of stress relief. Its nice to have another person who understands what its like to be a freak, even if Nightshade's mutations are all under the surface, and the two have a shared childhood in Glow City, from whence so many Seattle changelings come. Recently, Jenny has been considering getting into the shadows, not because she needs the money but because she is an unrepentant thrill-seeker and she has just about exercised the limits of her creativity in the bedroom. She wants new horizons, and she's more than willing to give Nightshade a little extra time in exchange for stories and advice. Though neither of them would admit it to the other, there is more than just affection between them, a sort of tragic love on Nightshade's part and a bad case of hero-worship on Jenny's.

[Raiderjoseph]

@BrickyardBabe

Those all your character's contacts!?

[DireRadiant]

Placeholder. Incomplete, feedback is still appreciated

[spoiler]DES is a late developer. He's still a short skinny Salish man with shaved black hair with a small feather braided pig tail on the left side of his trailing from behind is his left ear behind his back. His dark eye are lively and he has a quick expressive smile that contrasts with the occasional stormy pits of darkness and the hard onyx eyes of his thousand yard death stare. He's almost always in a well worn pilot jump suit topped with a varying set of baseball caps and mirror shades. On his feet he wears a set of buckskin moccasins with feather trim. Just an ordinary hopper pilot.

DES is Salish. He's got family. Jennifer Red Fern is his mother. Frederick Grey Otter is his father. They are still alive. Medicine Woman and Spirit Warrior for the Green Valley Salish. Bereaved parents of George Red Otter. Jennifer Red Fern and Frederick Grey Otter don't claim any other sons. No one in the Green Valley Salish ever mentions Darkness Eagle Soaring. He doesn't exist anymore. If only DES had never been, Red Otter would still be alive.

BIG REGRET
DES only wants to fly. When he flies he is free on the wind. When he flies he doesn't have to think about all disappointment in his mothers eyes when he shows no powers. He doesn't have to think about the look in his fathers eye's when he fails the ordeals. That was the past. Today he flies so he doesn't think about the look in his tribes eyes when he brought Red Otter back. Red Otter came when he was in the Wind and wasn't thinking. Red Otter followed DES. Followed DES to the cliffs. Followed DES off the cliffs. DES had a good set of sails and knew how to use them. Red Otter just thought he knew how to use them. The Green Valley Salish accused DES of killing his brother. DES accused them of killing him too. DES left. Everyone in the Salish tribes know DES is a brother killer. If only DES had helped his little brother instead of jumping to the skies right away.

DISGRACED
DES went into the mountains and lived wild, bartering with the Salish orks, gaining trust being a lookout. Eventually he joined the border hopping pilots and spent years flying light craft all over the north west. DES eventually joined the crew of the Flying Tigress. The Flying Tigress was part of a fleet of Trans polar Aluet smugglers operating year round over the arctic, the Aurora Patrol. DES spent years flying and flying and flying and earned his share in the Flying Tigress. Most of the Aurora Patrol think DES got his control rig installed and jacked the Flying Tigress. Truth is accidents happen. Accidents over the north pole are downright fatal. DES wasn't even flying, just jumped into a drone bringing it into land in the rack. The built up static charge must have shorted out right at the same time as an atmospheric discharge and DES and the pilot both got dumped. The pilot must have stayed conscious long enough to get the Flying Tigress down in only two pieces. 16 hours later DES almost gave up and let himself fade away. But no, for one final time he raged at the sky. And the Sky answered. The Wind came and blew the Flying Tigress into the air and DES screamed as the scars in his spirit shredded open. Screaming himself raw DES power dove the Flying Tigress until the engines answered. Hours later over the Pacific DES knew he would never be able to explain what happened to the Aurora Patrol so he put down along the Pacific North West and started looking for work.

IN DEBT to The Komun'go Seoulpa Ring
Repairing the Flying Tigress wasn't cheap. Especially after all the money and favors used to install a rig. DES still owes the Komun'go Seoulpa Ring for the repairs. It isn't cheap to replace almost half a plane lost in the arctic. DES is close to paying it off after years of payments. Maybe it will happen this year.

DES Contacts
Brianna Black Turtle (Connection 3, Loyalty 3) Mechanic
Bri operates the Busted Prop, a sea plane maintenance and repair shop in Seattle.


Glenn Red Raven (Connection 3, Loyalty 2) Border Patrol Agent
Glenn works as a UCAS Border Patrol Agent. Glenn works on border inspections, patrolling off road.

Laughing Dog (Connection 3, Loyalty 1) Coyote
Laughing Dog moves people over the various UCAS borders.

DES GM Contacts (40)
Salish Warrior   Gwendolyn Standing Heron   (3   3)   6
Salish Technomancer   Jimmy Black Goose   (4   3)   7
Fixer   Korean Gordo   (5   2)   7
Fence   Bouncy Bobbi   (6   2)   8
Talismonger   Red Eye Jill   (4   3)   7
Street Doc   Doc Burns   (4   1)   5


WHAT DES DOES
Dusk and Dawn call to the WIND
Rituals
Live in the Sound
Avoids land

WHAT DES WANTS
Pay off his debt
Learn his magic
Make money money
Return home

Resources A 450,000
Magic B Mystic Adept, Magic 4, 2 R4 Skills, 7 spells
Skills C 28/2
Attributes D 14
Metatype E Human 1

DES Darkness Eagle Soaring
METATYPE: HUMAN
B 2, A 2, R 5, S 2, W 2, L 2, I 2, C 5,
ESS 5
EDG 2
M 4
Condition Monitor (P/S): 9 / 9
Armor: 12
Limits: Physical 4, Mental 3, Social 6
Physical Initiative: 7+1D6
Matrix Initiative: 6+3D6
Active Skills:
Electronic Warfare 4,
Gunnery 3,
Intimidation 5,
Leadership 1,
Outdoors Group 2,
Perception 3,
Pilot Aircraft 6 (9),
Pilot Watercraft 2,
Ritual Spellcasting 4,
Sneaking 3,
Summoning 6
Knowledge Skills:
Salish Traditions 2,
Smuggling Routes 3
Languages: English N, Salish 5
Qualities:
Astral Beacon,
Big Regret,
Disgraced,
Gearhead,
In Debt (Borrowed 15,000¥, Owes 22,500¥) (3),
Mentor Spirit: Magician Powers: Thunderbird, Magician Powers, Shamanic Mystic Adept, Spirit Affinity: Spirits of Air,
Spirit Bane: Spirits of Earth
Rituals: Alarm Ward, Calling: Normal Spirits, Circle of Protection, Homunculus, Spirit Pact, Ward, Watcher
Adept Powers: Attribute Boost (4): Reaction (8dicepool), Authoritative Tone (1), Commanding Voice (6dicepool vs.  Willpower + Intuition), Improved Ability (3): Pilot Aircraft

Augmentations:
   (43000) Control Rig (1)
Vehicles:
   Aeroquip Dustoff [Handling 3, Speed 4, Accel 4, Body 4, Armor 5, Pilot 4, Sensor 3] (20,900)
      Gear:
         Weapon Mount
      Weapons:
         Ingram Valiant [LMG, Acc 6, DV 9P, AP -6, BF/FA, RC 2(3), 50 (c)] w/ (50x) APDS, Gas-Vent System (2), Laser Sight, Shock Pad
   PBY-70 Catalina II [Handling 4/4, Speed 3/3, Accel 3, Body 22, Armor 14, Pilot 3, Sensor 4, Seats 16] (338250)
      Gear:
         Chameleon coating
         Concealed  Mount Mod
         Enhanced Winch
         Large Drone Rack
         Morphing license plate
         Rigger Interface
         Satellite Link
         Searchlight
         Smuggling compartment (dwarf, human, elf, or ork)
         Spoof chips
         Vehicle Tag Eraser
      Weapons:
         Stoner-Ares M202 [MMG, Acc 5, DV 10P, AP -7, FA, 100 (belt)] w/ (100x) APDS
Gear:
   (1000)Armor Jacket
   (1650)Binoculars (3) w/ Vision Enhancement (3), Vision Magnification, Electronic
   (500)Certified Credstick, Platinum
   (10)Certified Credstick, Standard x2
   (12,800) David Ethan Smith w/ Fake License: Pilot (4), Fake SIN (4), (1 month) Low Lifestyle
   (34000)Maersk Spider w/ Sim Module, Modified for Hot Sim
   (2000)Magical Lodge Materials (4)
   (1500)Medkit (6)
   (3175)Mirror Shades w/ Flare Compensation, Image Link, Smartlink, Thermographic Vision
   (2000)Reagents, Raw (dram): Shamanic x100
   (500)Tool Kit, Aeronautics Mechanic
   (500)Tool Kit, Industrial Mechanic
   (500)Tool Kit, Nautical Mechanic
   (70)Trodes
Weapons:
   (800)Ares Predator III [Heavy Pistol, Acc 7, DV 6P, AP +3, SA, 15 (c)] w/ (20x) Flare, (20x) Frangible, Smartgun System, Internal, (20x) Stick-n-Shock
   (1520)Marlin X71 [Sport Rifle, Acc 5, DV 12P, AP -4, SS, 5 (m)] w/ Extreme Environment Modification (1), Marlin X71 Imaging Scope, (10x) Regular Ammo
Contacts:
Mechanic Brianna Black Turtle (Connection 3, Loyalty 3)
Border Patrol Agent Glenn Red Raven (Connection 3, Loyalty 2)
Coyote, Laughing Dog (Connection 3, Loyalty 1)
Salish Warrior   Gwendolyn Standing Heron   (3   3)   6
Salish Technomancer   Jimmy Black Goose   (4   3)   7
Fixer   Korean Gordo   (5   2)   7
Fence   Bouncy Bobbi   (6   2)   8
Talismonger   Red Eye Jill   (4   3)   7
Street Doc   Doc Burns   (4   1)   5
Starting ¥: 325 + (3D6 × 60)¥
Ammunition & Resources:
   Ares Predator III - Frangible x15
   Marlin X71 - Regular Ammo x5
   Edge Pool - 0/2


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

Aeroquip Dustoff (20,900)
CHASSIS: AEROQUIP DUSTOFF
Handling 3, Speed 4, Acceleration 4, Body 4, Pilot 4, Sensor 3, Device Rating 4, Data Processing 4, Firewall 4
Condition Monitor: 8
Armor: 5H
Limits: Mental 6
Gear:
   Weapon Mount
Weapons:
   Ingram Valiant [LMG, Acc 6, DV 9P, AP -6, BF/FA, RC 2(3), 50 (c)] w/ (50x) APDS, Gas-Vent System (2), Laser Sight, Shock Pad
Ammunition & Resources:
   Ingram Valiant - APDS x50


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

PBY-70 Catalina II (338250)
CHASSIS: PBY-70 CATALINA II
Handling 4, Handling (Off-Road) 4, Speed 3, Speed (Off-Road) 3, Acceleration 3, Body 22, Pilot 3, Sensor 4, Seating 16, Device Rating 3, Data Processing 3, Firewall 3
Condition Monitor: 23
Armor: 14H
Limits: Mental 4
Gear:
   Chameleon coating
   Concealed  Mount Mod
   Enhanced Winch
   Large Drone Rack
   Morphing license plate
   Rigger Interface
   Satellite Link
   Searchlight
   Smuggling compartment (dwarf, human, elf, or ork)
   Spoof chips
   Vehicle Tag Eraser
Weapons:
   Stoner-Ares M202 [MMG, Acc 5, DV 10P, AP -7, FA, 100 (belt)] w/ (100x) APDS
Ammunition & Resources:
   Stoner-Ares M202 - APDS x100
[/spoiler]

[BrickyardBabe]

@RaiderJoseph: Yup! CHA 9 has its privileges, and Adamu said he wanted it in depth, so there you go. If I wasn't already pushing the limits of what I was comfortable with vis a vis negative qualities, I'd eat another 10 points to round out the list, because its still not where I want it. But it will do for now, since I also have local bar patron or private club membership attached to five places with my lifestyles. Nightshade gets everywhere.

[Raiderjoseph]

@RaiderJoseph: Yup! CHA 9 has its privileges, and Adamu said he wanted it in depth, so there you go. If I wasn't already pushing the limits of what I was comfortable with vis a vis negative qualities, I'd eat another 10 points to round out the list, because its still not where I want it. But it will do for now, since I also have local bar patron or private club membership attached to five places with my lifestyles. Nightshade gets everywhere.

Holy freaking crap! I thought you said you werent playing max! Your die pool in firearms matches mine and you only have 1 rank in all the firearm skills! How do you even roleplay that? Are you just lucky?

[BrickyardBabe]

Kinesthetic sense and raw natural talent mostly. Shes got a half million under the hood in augmentations. She doesn't know a lot about shooting. If you talk to her, she's got the basics but that's it. But she trusts her body and her enhanced speed. She may barely be able to tell a charging handle from a safety, but she knows that if she points her arm with a gun at the end of it, her muscles won't shake and her hand won't twitch. She is physically very gifted and she has absolute faith that her body will see her through. She's had friends, freedom, choice, and even the ability to think clearly taken away. The only thing she's ever owned is her skin and what's underneath it, so that's what she concentrated on.

And thisn isnt max. Max would be thirteen agi, a reflex recorder, and active hardwires. Look at her con/seduction.