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Ask to Join Shadowrun Chronicles: Artistic Larceny

Beckton, The Docklands, London “The Smoke”, October 2055

They say that the world comes in cycles. Cycles of Renewal, Cycles of Life, Cycles of Magic. Whatever was, shall be again. If there’s one thing I already know, it’s that The Smoke too comes in cycles. Whatever was, shall be again. And just as our ancestors lived in the small alleys between buildings that rose high enough to block out the sun, while those in higher places throw their piss down on us. So too, do we participate in the golden shower: figuratively, and given the smell, possibly literally.

Collin took in a deep breath, and immediately gagged. He did this every time he walked down this alley, expecting something to be different, yet it was always the same stink, hot and lingering, its fumes leaking out from this pocket between buildings into the low-town street behind him. Collin stepped through the alley, carefully navigating the various piles of trash that sat in the street as if they were people, squatting and hiding from the world. Between those, were the people looking like trash. One in particular that Collin had to step over every time he came here, a man in his late thirties, his skin was thick and his arms were lumpy with warts. He hung his head low, staring blankly at the space between his legs, but Collin could clearly see the scar that started from his temple, curved down towards his eyes, and continued through them. Collin knew that the Orc was doomed to never see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Collin stepped over him, not wanting to disturb the man in whatever thoughts he had going on. Then approached the door just a little bit further down the alley, a slab of metal in the wall almost no different from the building wall itself, so basic and ignored that it was painted over as if it was just a wall feature, that made it perfect for the man Collin came here to see. No sooner than when he approached that a voice whispered from an unseen intercom.

“Caper?”

“The one and only, now open up.” Collin said in a hush tone. The door opened up halfway with almost no noise. Collin quickly crouched down and stepped through as the door came back down again.

Collin found himself in a darkened metal corridor with a flight of short steps led up to another door. A single light bulb flickered, and illuminated the way. Hurrying up the steps, Collin pushed on the door and into a medium-sized room. A wooden round table with a few chairs took up one side of it, a massive computer system with multiple screens all fixed at various angles and displaying different things, from cameras, to documents, to online forums. Seated in the perfect place to see all the screens, was a short stocky man. He had ginger buzz-cut hair on his head, and a thick braided beard that covered his lower face, as if his hair had fallen off his head and was now dangling from his chin. One of his eyes was a vibrant green, but the other was replaced by a jet-black replacement, a red laser within that quickly locked onto Collin as he approached. The dwarf eyed the scruffy young man as he approached. He was wearing a red rain jacket over a grey hoodie and rough jeans. His hands were kept hidden by a pair of black biker-gloves. He had unkempt brown hair that reached his neck at the back, his facial hair was unevenly trimmed, and his green eyes had a youthful sparkle to them.

“Caper…” he said again, his voice was hoarse, but with a firmness behind each syllable. Collin took a moment to breathe deep…

Caper then looked up and smiled.

“Happy to see me Dataknife?”

“Happy to see you in one piece at least.” The dwarf replied flatly, then looked Caper up and down “Heh. Well, mostly one piece… how’s the hand?” Caper raised one of his gloved hands and pulled the black fabric away. A flash of glossy chrome glinted in the dim lighting. Capers hand was cut off two inches below the wrist, replaced with a bionic replacement; a sleek metallic replica with the inner workings protected by small sheets of metal and plastic.

“It’s pretty good for how cheap it was.” Caper explained, twisting his arm to give Dataknife a better look at it. “All my fingers too, though they’re all missing the last joint, so it looks pretty stiff, other than that, it’s as if I never lost it. Oh yeah, I was also able to get a little extra installed, check this out.” Caper raised his hand higher, and cocked his wrist back slowly. With a sudden click, the wrist bent to an unnatural angle, and from a groove the base of the palm, a piece of metal sprung forth. Caper smirked as he twisted his wrist, giving a full view of the eight-centimetre spike gleaming dangerously in the dim light. “So what do you think? Think I can get a few surprise kills with this thing?”

“First off, that thing looks like something straight out of Twenty-Seven.” Dataknife retorded, “Second, that is barely going to reach any vitals on a human. Try that stunt on a troll and all you do is piss him off; within grabbing distance.”

“Not if I jab him square between the eyes.” Caper grinned as his wrist snapped back into shape, the hidden weapon sliding back into its chamber. “You aren’t wrong though, it is a work in progress. I’m looking at possibly getting some poisons to make it worthwhile. That’s going to need some good nuyen though. Which is why I’m here.”

“Good.” Dataknife pulled a datapad from his desk and handed it to Caper. “I’ve got a few clients looking for some hired muscle. Might be up your alley.” Caper took a closer look at the datapad, a list of jobs were displayed on the file Dataknife gave him, summarizing Capers’ opportunities.

“Most of these are gang-work, you know how I feel about them.” Caper scowled, remembering his previous experiences. “And this one with the Bell-Ends? I think they’d rather ice me after that job with Crosshairs went up in flames.”

“Well I’m not setting you up against Azentechnology, you’d barely make it through the front door with your toothpick.”

“Harsh…” Caper held his breath, as he looked further into the list, until one in particular caught his eye. “Hey, what about this one? The art museum?”

“Less a museum and more a private collection. But yeah, this vault belongs to some hotshot executive in Saeder-Krupp’s lapdog Corp. Man’s carving out his on little world in that building HQ, including his artefact collection. The client is after a specific thing in that treasure trove: a relic of some sort. They even sent a plan for the heist.” Caper opened up the file, and saw not just the original conversation Dataknife had with the anonymous client, but a set of blueprints that were attached.

“This… looks well laid out, this plan details cameras, guard posts, and security doors; all the things to watch out for.”

“That’s certainly a lot of info, too much in my opinion. There's no way the client isn't on the inside."

"That's hardly the worse thing in the world. Why hasn't anybody else taken this job yet?"

Because of the security detail. It’s run by Winter Systems, the pay is drek for going up against them.”

“Winter Systems? Isn’t that a UCAS contractor?”

“Noticed that as well? They don’t usually have a presence outside of the UCAS, and the folks that own the building itself are local.”

“That’s interesting…” Caper muttered, studying the information on the data pad in complete detail.

“Hmm, all of this intel and the client are only after one thing…” The last thing on the file was a picture of the mark. It looked a grey slab of stone weathered by age. It may have been ornate once, but only a few rough carvings remain on the surface. The photo seems to have been taken from the other side of a glass case. A light reflection dancing on the surface and a label plastered on the surface, Caper wasn’t sure if it was part of the photo, or was added their for convenience. “Item M16… It looks like a stone tablet of some kind. Could be magical, but I don’t see anything that suggests that.”

“What is it this time? Some magical ritual to overthrow the almighty Lord Protector?”

“No not really,” Caper passed back the datapad before continuing. “But it’s just one thing, what’s more interesting is that its Winter Systems guarding the place. I don’t think the locals would appreciate a UCAS corp trying to expand into the Smoke, especially HKB. Someone probably wants them to screw up to deter them and push them back to the other side of the Atlantic. The point isn’t to steal the mark, but to humiliate the security guarding the vault it’s in.”

“Well that’s a load of conspiracy drek Caper, but I take it that you’re going to accept the job?”

“Course I will. Apart from the proper security detail, this might be as simple as collecting the mail.”

“Confidence is good, but not cockiness. If anything on this plan is false, you’re going to have a hell of a fight on your hands.”

“Don’t worry Data, I’m no fool.” Caper looked up at one of the screens in Dataknife’s workspace; displaying a page from Shadowland BBS. “I can’t be the only solo runner out for a payday, lets see who else is looking for a job.”

This is an Role-Play within the world of Shadowrun; an RPG based in a cyberpunk world where magic and tech collided with one another in 2012 and kickstarted the rise of Mega Corporations. These supergiant powers can rival nations, and may even be considered nations themselves. In this rapidly evolving world where life-changing discoveries and global conspiracies are an everyday occurrence, everyone is looking to get ahead. And when the law cannot help you get your way, most will turn to Shadowrunners; deniable specialists that exist outside of the global Security Identication Number Systems. As far as the world sees, they don't exist. This makes these SINless mercenaries perfect tools for infiltration, extraction, sabotage, assassination, and anything else they get paid enough to do. Shadowrunners come from many different backgrounds, and bring different tactics to the field. Some use deadly weapons and tools brought about by the rise of technology, others harness the magical world around them to cast spells and summon spirits to aid them. Whichever

This is my first attempt at what I'm hoping will be a series of RPs. There will be an overarching storyline, but will be self-contained for the most part. This one in particular takes place in London, better known in the shadows as The Smoke. London is both one of the best; yet worst cities a person could live. The Financial Hub of Europe, yet 35% of the population remains below the poverty line. The inner city is divided into 11 distinct districts where different classes of people reside. From the great shopping centre of the Underplex, to the dangerous gang-ridden streets of the Overground, or Shadowtown as some folks will call it. There is a source book available here if you want to read further into life in London and other parts of the UK, or go here for a wiki containing a more simplified run-down of important details. This RP will have a team of runners break into a privately owned art collection and steal an artefact from within. Some details of this RP are planned, but everything else is up to imagination.

Current Participants
- Brendan Savem
- Icena
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If you’re interested in joining the RP, please fill out the template below to the best of your ability. You can add sections to it if you wish, or make your own template bio. I’m looking for 3 participants, though I might crank it to 4 later if there's enough interest. If there's anything that's still unclear, feel free to ask.

Callsign: What people on the streets know you as, it should be as second nature, or even more natural, as your usual name.
Real Name: If applicable of course, as some runners raised on the streets never had a real name.
Class: General Combat profession. Typically this falls under Street Samurai, Decker, Mage, Shaman, Adept, and Rigger, though variations and hybrids exist. It mainly depends on how you fight.
Race: There are 5 races in Shadowrun that make up metahumanity, all of which have their own racial variations. The main ones are Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Orks, and Trolls. Humans and Elves tend to make up the social elite, while Orcs and Trolls, and dwarves to a lesser extent, are heavily discriminated.
Gender:
Age:
Personal Features: Unique traits others may pay attention to when they look at you.
Personality:
Clothing/Armour:
Weaponry: Physical weapons, like guns, that you use in combat. If magical, see below
Magic: Magic comes in many forms, the most common being Hermetic(Mage), Shamanic (Shaman), and Chi (Adept). Which do you use, and what spells do you usually cast?
Cyberware/Bioware: Implants that augment, or improve a persons body. Cyberware refers to metallic replacements for limbs and sometimes organs. Bioware refers to genetically modified organs and other bodyparts, whether they are the recipiants originals or replacements. Bear in mind that while magic users can get these, it usually interferes with their ability to cast magic.
Other Equipment: Other work equipment that don't fall into the previously mentioned catagories, like medkits, cyberdecks, and combat drugs.
Biography: Your backstory. Be as detailed as you like, but try to include the kind of runs you've done in the past, and maybe why you started running in the first place.

Below is a bio for my character, Caper, and his fixer, Dataknife, both of whom feature in the prologue. If you want to incorporate either character into your own backstory, feel free to.

Callsign: “Caper”
Real Name: Collin Andrews
Class: Street Samurai
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Personal Features: Caucasian, with brown unkempt hair, green eyes, and a narrow face.
Personality: A fast-talking smartass. He’s often too curious about his own job, and draws his own conclusions as to the purpose of his runs, his fixer calls him a conspiracy theorist.
Clothing/Armour:
- Leather body armour
- Long-sleeved leather duster coat
- Back Straps to holster his weapons, can be worn over and under his jacket
Weaponry:
- AK47 Assault Rifle
- Tempered Steel Longsword
- Fragmental and Flashbang Grenades
Magic: None
Cyberware/Bioware:
- Learning Brainchip, a learning device that acted to feed him information that carried his high school education. It also functions as a lingual translator. It’s outdated and too small for a grown male, but it hasn’t caused any problems yet, so Caper never removed it
- Hidden Blade Cyberhand. A recent instalment. Caper installed it on a whim after his hand was injured on his most recent run. As well as stabilizing his hand for better aim, Caper has a custom spike hidden inside, which makes an impromptu stabbing weapon whenever he might need it
Other Equipment:
- A medkit for emergencies
- A dose of Kamikaze Combat Stims
Biography:
Collin’s father was one of many corporate figures clawing their way to the top. He was CEO of the A-Rank Corporation ‘Andromeda Enterprises’, a manufacturing firm specializing in space-flight technology. Collin as such had a lavish early childhood, including a brain sim learning program that accelerated his education, giving him a full-high school education by the time he was twelve. On the eve of his 13th birthday however, Ares, a AAA competitor on the market, attempted a violent merger on their fledging rival by assassinating Collin’s father to place someone who would complete the merger in his place. Collin himself became a loose end in this plot, and he was dealt with by having his SIN burned to erase his very existence from the public eye. He was supposed to have then been killed too, but then a team of shadowrunners performed a run on Andromeda, likely for the same data Ares made the merger for. Collin tagged along with them, and assisted them in the escape. Now on the London streets, Collin took on the name of Caper and became a runner for a number of street gangs, moving to one when police or rival gangs dismantled his previous one. Capers transition into shadowrunning was gradual, starting at 17 when his last gang was contracted to stir up trouble for a specific client, who then hired Caper to dismantle the whole gang by killing the boss. At 19, this was his first official shadowrun, and it was far from his last.
Callsign: “Dataknife”
Real Name: Roger McPherson
Class: Fixer (Former Decker/Rigger)
Race: Dwarf
Gender: Male
Age: 41
Personal Features: Ginger buzz-cut, large beard that reaches his chest that’s usually left unchecked. He’s tall for a dwarf, thanks to his cyberlegs.
Personality: Sarcastic with little patience for incompetence.
Clothing:
- Greasy T-Shirt
- Shorts that leave his cyberlegs exposed
Weaponry:
- Shotguns
- Drones
Magic: None
Cyberware/Bioware:
- Wired Datajack
- Laser Targeting Eye
- Hydraulic-Jack Cyberlegs. They’re oversized, so they give Dataknife a taller stature that’s unusual for a dwarf.
Other Equipment:
- His workshop’s supercomputer allows him to worm his way through the matrix whenever he needs to do the occasional information digging or to keep tabs on his runners. It’s also his usual destination for a meeting with a client
- His home is wired up to allow him to operate it with his rigging setup, even while in the matrix. It allows him to remotely operate the doors and cameras of his workshop. Whether Dataknife has weaponry or traps installed is currently unknown.
Biography:
Dataknife has been in the shadowrunning community for a very long time, having started sometime in his late twenties. The details for this are sketchy, likely thanks to his own cleanup, although it is believed he was a wage-slave beforehand. Dataknife was an effective shadowrunner, having been on many different runs over the years. He retired from the business eight years ago, becoming a mechanic in the docklands. On the inside though, he’s a Fixer for a number of different shadowrunner teams, and a few freelancers, Caper being among them. The two have a friendly working relationship, and despite Caper’s bravado and pickiness about his jobs, he’s an efficient runner who gets results, which Dataknife respects.
 
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I've never heard of Shadowrun before (until now, of course), but I did some research on the internet, and that cleared up pretty much everything I didn't really understand, so. . .
Here's the form for my character! I hope I didn't mess up anything!


Callsign: 'Lode'
Real Name: Claire Rickins
Class: Hybrid of Decker and Street Samurai
Race: Elf
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Personal Features: Lode has dark skin and an oval-shaped face. She has black, short hair and grey eyes.
Personality: Lode is always very positive. She doesn't talk much, because when she does she sometimes fails to express what she thinks in words. Lode is very calm under pressure, which is why she's good at thinking of good solutions quickly.
Clothing/Armor: Lode wears form-fitting body armor under a summit dress. She has a thin, black belt that she clips her weapons onto.
Weaponry: Lode has a pistol and a shotgun clipped onto her belt. She also has a sharp spur on each of her boots, which makes her back kicks quite strong, and can seriously damage others.
Magic: None
Cyberware/Bioware: Lode has a datajack installed behind her left ear, which she uses for hacking. She had it installed about two years ago. She also had a math subprocessor installed when she was very young, around the age of seven. It lets her solve any math equation with ease.
Other Equipment: Lode carries a grappling hook on her belt along with her weapons and her specialty cyberdeck (Aztechnology Emissary). She also has a few bandages, just in case she gets a serious injury.
Biography: Claire didn't have such a great childhood. Her mother and father died when she was very young, and she doesn't remember them at all. Claire's uncle took care of her, but not personally. He would always have other people help Claire with everything she needed. Claire didn't even know what his job was, nor what he sounded and looked like. She never talked to him, and it didn't seem like he wanted to talk to her. That didn't work out well for Claire. When she didn't understand what she was learning in school, nobody could help her because they didn't understand it, either. Claire never understood mathematics. All she knew was addition and subtraction, and could only solve math problems with numbers below fifty. When she was in her second year of elementary school, a dwarf that was ordered by her uncle to help Claire installed a math subprocessor for her. Because of that, Claire skipped what she had left of elementary school and went straight to middle school at the age of nine. Claire blended in with the humans she learned with because of her height, which was quite tall for her age. (Elves are also slightly taller than the average human.) Once, when Claire was fourteen, she came back to her uncle's home, from high school. When Claire peeked inside the house, she was shocked. An elf was dead on the floor, and a group of orks were crowded around him as if he was a rare artifact in a museum. Claire had a short conversation with the orks, and found out that the orks were shadowrunners whose mission was to find out what her uncle was doing and why. They found out that her uncle had been a shadowrunner, but gave up and began to help the government by giving information about the shadowrunners he knew. The information he was giving was false, though, and when someone from the government found out, he killed Claire's uncle, who was the man dead on the floor, and burned the SIN of him and all his family members. The only family member that was still alive was Claire, who decided to go with the group of shadowrunners and deliver the information to the client along with them. At the age of fifteen, Claire took on the name of Lode and ran her first run. It was simple, but not easy: Lode needed to hack into someone's computer and find the piece of information needed. A year later, Lode had her datajack installed, and ran her second run, which was much harder than her first. She killed someone for the first time on that mission, and it felt good. Since then, Lode has been shadowrunning alone. She didn't run an official run in a group yet, but she hoped she would soon.
 
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Looks good @Icena, welcome aboard. Only nitpick I can spot would be that most deckers in the 2050s would carry a cyberdeck, which is basically a giant keyboard, to help them with hacking. They can come in a lot of shapes and sizes though, and some deckers are good enough to work without one, so I'll leave that up to your imagination.
 
Thanks! I edited my post, Lode has an Aztechnology Emissary. (I did some research on the internet to find the different types of cyberdecks, which helped quite a lot.)
 
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