Session 20: Paranormal Phenomena

Shadowrun
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Chapter 2
22: Nippon Teikoku e Youkoso 23: Rift Closed/Opened 24: F.A.T.E. Unravels 25: Hotel California 26: Welcome Home 27: New Beginnings
Chapter 1
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F.A.T.E. PCs
Anastasia Ellison - CS Dmitri - CS Eric Black - CS Gideon Wexler - CS Hector Radcliffe Kumiko Nakamura - CS Oni - CS

Suggested music: Highway to the Danger Zone

Briefing

J.P. Redman has spent so much time in government meetings in Sacramento this week that he has stopped bothering to commute back to San Francisco. The San Francisco-based agents have enjoyed a lax atmosphere at headquarters while their boss is away. Consequently, Barry Stearns has taken a larger role managing day-to-day operations.

On April 3 the Lucas Valley Evacuation Zone was established, and Homeland Security has been carrying out the executive order. Most residents evacuated voluntarily, however some stubborn residents refused. Security forces have been sweeping the region, forcefully evacuating those that resist. Everyone removed from the region has been subject to inspection and decontamination.

Dr. Yau has been further studying the awakened fungus recovered from the core of Drakes Bay Reactor No. 2. He has found that the special containment rod recovered was designed to be porous, allowing the fungus to be heated and dispersed in the cooling liquid. He speculates that trace amounts of this compound could be mixed with the nuclear fallout that has spread through the region. He has been unable to classify it as any known substance, so its effects are not well documented or understood. Thus, he has warned the agents to be cautious in the evacuation zone and to be on the lookout for any unusual events.

Such a case caught Barry's eye as he sifted through reports of the evacuation. A single mother has reported her two sons, age 9 and 11, missing. She was among those refusing to evacuate until she found her children, however CDHS has since forcefully evacuated her to a safe location with the promise that an investigation into the missing children will be opened. The family lives in San Geronimo near Kent Lake at the southern edge of the designated evacuation area.

What struck Barry as intriguing was that her and several other residents from San Geronimo and surrounding communities have reported spontaneous strange glowing from the direction of Kent Lake. He has dispatched Desmond Sands to meet up with the San Francisco team and investigate.

Notes

• You will LOL when you realize what movie that picture is from.
• Timmy and Gary Pendergrass are the names of the two missing boys.

Session Synopsis

Bolum Bolum

The team took a divide and conquer approach by splitting into 3 search teams:

• Eric and Doc explored the island at the center of Kent Lake
• Wex and Ana explored the abandoned hydroelectric dam
• Desmond and Oni drove to the woman's home

Wex and Ana infiltrated the dam and found the facility's control room. Wex was able to boot the systems that had been shut down and find security video footage. The footage revealed the same lighting phenomena that residents reported, which indicated that it was indeed a physical phenomena and not one that just affected the mind. The auroras and flashes of light appeared to only occur at night, though it was unclear if the daylight just simply made those visuals undetectable during the day.

Eric and Doc searched the central island, and it didn't take Doc long to find the body of the 11-year-old boy floating face down in the lake. Eric summoned a water elemental to fetch the body from the lake, and Doc pulled it on shore. Upon further examination, he was surprised to find the boy still living. He was in a bizarre state of suspended animation, there was no physical reason why the boy simply did not drown. Doc cleared the boy's lungs of water and the body did begin breathing on its own once again. Eric examined the body astrally and noted that it looked as if the boy had left his body, as if astrally projecting. He astrally projected himself and began to trace the astral thread attached to the boy's body. Several hours of searching led him to edges of astral space that he was not comfortable traveling it, so he eventually turned around. The sheer length of the path he traversed suggested to him that the boy had been projecting for several hours more than most mages could ever project. This led Eric to believe that the boy might have traveled to a metaplane.

While Eric was astrally projecting, Doc and Hector took the helicopter and began searching the lake for the other child. Wex and Ana joined Doc after exploring the dam. The group then searched the other leg of the lake, eventually finding a heat signature that matched that of a small child in a creek inlet. After dropping down from the helicopter, they confirmed it was the 9-year-old boy they were looking for. They found him in a similar state to that of his brother, except with more wounds. Some animals had been picking at his flesh while he was unconscious. Doc patched up the boy's open cuts and the group proceeded to take him back to the helicopter. However, the group felt that they were being watched.

And they were. A bizarre, one-legged shaman approached the group, inquiring about their presence. He was carrying two foci: a dreamcatcher staff with a chainsaw strapped to the top of it. The group was surprised when Doc began communicating with the shaman in his native tongue. The shaman introduced himself as Bolam Bolam. Doc guided a cordial conversation, gathering information on why the shaman was here and inquiring about the unusual events around the lake. Bolum Bolum explained that he was in the region capturing spirits that have been in the area. Doc and the shaman agreed to stay out of each other's way.

Oni, Desmond, and Desmond's dog Fang began their search at the woman's house. They found the boy's dirty clothes and had Fang pick up the scent. Fang led them on a long hike through the woods to Lake Kent, but by this time Doc and the others had already found both children.

Having found both children, the groups all converged on the center island, where they set up camp and awaited the events they expected nightfall to bring. Eric led the magically inclined team members to construct a rating 5 ward in one quadrant of the island to protect the group from astral threats, whatever they may be.

The astral shallows began to appear after sunset, which allowed the mundanes in the group to be able to astrally perceive. Spirits began appearing around the lake, but the main event occurred around midnight. At the center of the island, a plant began to grow very fast. On the astral plane, it appeared that the plant was being fed energy from the fluctuating auroras in the sky. It soon became apparent that an astral rift was forming at the center of the island its radius ebbing and flowing and creeping into the warded area the group had set up, consuming nearly half of it. The agents had time to escape its grasp, and it was fortunate that they parked the helicopter where they did.

The tree grew ever taller and thicker, its size dwarfing even the tallest sequoias in California. Eric assensed the tree to be a force 8 great form plant spirit. He immediately made contact with it, and got its attention. The spirit asked Eric if he was the ambassador of this world, to which he answered yes. Eric probed the spirit for information regarding its purpose and reason for appearing here. Some of the spirits answers were vague, but it seemed the spirit did not choose this location, but that some outside event made this location accessible. Some agents speculated that this was the unique astral fungus Dr. Yau warned of.

Eric asked the spirit about Bolum Bolum, and just hearing the name angered the spirit greatly. The two found that they both had something in common - they wanted to remove Bolum Bolum from these lands. Eric also inquired about the two children; and the spirit confirmed that they were alive and safe in his native metaplanar realm. Eric proposed a deal: that they would defeat Bolum Bolum and release the spirits bound to the shaman, and in return, the great form spirit would help them travel into the metaplane and retrieve the two children. The great form spirit immediately agreed.

Eric's plan was to travel into the metaplane alone and retrieve the children while the rest of the team handles Bolum Bolum. This plan was met with fierce resistance from Anastasia. Metaplanes are extremely dangerous places, and even with guidance of a great form spirit there was no telling what could happen. Eric knew this, but did not want to endanger the lives of his fellow F.A.T.E. agents. Anastasia was adamant about going, and it became apparent to Eric that not even a direct order to stay was going to stop her, so he conceded the issue. With a little prodding, Anastasia was able to convince Gideon Wexler to come along as well.

The three prepared and soon departed for the metaplane, walking toward the blinding light of the astral rift. Doc was ready to catch their bodies as they projected, however the bodies too were swept into the the radius of the rift and Doc was smart not to chase after them. F.A.T.E. issued biomonitors confirmed their comatose state shortly after.

The rest of the F.A.T.E. agents left to look for Bolum Bolum. Fang traced his scent to a different section of Kent Lake, where the agents confronted him once again. The shaman seemed confused, as they originally agreed to stay out of each other's way. The two conversed, the exchange helped build trust between Doc and Bolum Bolum. The shaman mentioned that he was going to take the spirits he is binding back to Mount Shasta to study them before returning to this region and approaching the metaplane. The F.A.T.E. agents were not thrilled to hear this reference; the great dragon Hestaby resides on Mount Shasta, and that is one entity they did not want to upset. Doc managed to convince the shaman to come with them and talk to the great form spirit now instead of later, with a promise to protect him from the great spirit. He was reluctant, but agreed.

He rode on the helicopter with the rest of F.A.T.E. and they headed back to the warded area on the central island. As they approached, the spirit could assense the presence of Bolum Bolum on board, and took a large swat at the tiny helicopter. Hector skillfully maintained control, dodging the arm of the tree and the wind currents that came with the swipe. He landed the helicopter inside the warded area. Much to Bolum Bolum's dismay, the ward did not allow him to bring his greater thunderbird or his accompanying air spirits.

Desmond, the only one remaining who could converse with the great form spirit, began negotiating. The spirit was angry that the group had not destroyed the shaman. Desmond managed to calm the spirit down and prevent him from outright attacking them again. Bolum Bolum heard this, however, and went into a panic. He ordered his air spirits to attack. Doc was quick to put two bullets into the shaman, one into his chest and the other into his leg, so as not to instantly kill him. Two air spirits were distrupted trying to break the astral ward, while Oni neutralized the third as soon as it crossed. The greater thunderbird also tried to break the ward and fell unconscious when it failed. Doc quickly put the shaman on the valkyrie medical module to stabilize his condition.

Edge Remaining

• Hector: 1
• Desmond: 2

The group confiscated the following equipment and belongings from Bolum Bolum:

• Dreamcatcher Staff Summoning Foci (Air Spirits, Rating 5)
• Chainsaw Weapon Foci (Rating 4)
• 2,000¥ worth of ritual materials
• A refined reagent: a gray stone cut into a dodecahedron.
• Several dragon scales (refined reagents)

Aftermath

Barry Stearns raced through the hallways of F.A.T.E. HQ. He had only been to the building a few times, and its layout was still unfamiliar with him. A major problem at this moment in time, as he scrambled to get to the garage in time. The words of J.P. Redman were echoing through his head.

Whatever you do, don't let Dr. Yau go off by himself.

And he was about to. The moment that F.A.T.E. agents reported seeing an astral rift, Dr. Kefeng Yau announced he was going up to Kent Lake immediately. Barry warned Dr. Yau not to, but his commands fell on deaf ears. Yau could barely contain his excitement. He had spent most of his life exploring the mathematics of astral space; astral rifts were the holy grail of his field of study. Black Holes are to Stephen Hawking as Astral Rifts are to Kefeng Yau. They were the areas where equations broke down, where discoveries could be made. His whole life, Yau has never had access to an astral rift, despite confirmation of their presence years ago. Even today, the Dunkelzahn rift remains open, but heavily guarded and completely inaccessible to him. Other reported rifts were too short lived or in much too dangerous locations for him to visit. But an astral rift right here in central California? It was too good to be true, he thought. He could barely contain his excitement.

Yau was driving the un-radiated sedan up the parking ramp when Stearns jumped out in front of the vehicle. The collision prevention system brought the car to a halt, something Yau's poor reflexes would have been unable to do. Yau honked and rolled down the window. "I'm going to Kent Lake," he announced, shaking his fist. "Move."

Barry was growing frustrated with Yau's insubordination, and wondered how J.P. ran such a loose ship. But he couldn't dwell on that thought much further. "Get out of the car." he told the doctor.

Yau frowned and reluctantly opened the door. Stearns grabbed the door and said, "Calm down, and get in the passenger seat." Yau, realizing that Barry was simply going to go with him, perked up and raced across the front of the car to the passenger side. It was just after midnight and the two began the drive to Kent Lake.

Results

Status: In Progress
Dates: April 21-22, 2073
Quote of the night:

Eric, Ana, and Wex's bodies disappear across the astral rift

Doc: "Well... hope those come back."

Nuyen: None
Stipend: 2,495¥ remaining
Karma Awarded: 7
Additional Awards: None