Following on immediately from the previous sessionWe see there are many cobwebs in the trees and Shadow spots something off to the side of the path - something with many legs and purple and which disappeared almost as soon as Shadow spotted it. Shadow calls up Wakiya to see if she can see anything through the scope of her sniper rifle but there is nothing visible. As they do that Tremen watches the other side of the path and Nameraka examines the Torii in more detail. The ropes and strings visible on the Torii look very old. He touches the ropes with his cyberarm but all this shows is that the ropes are strong and relucant to move (quickly falling back into position).
The gully leading to a cave entrance
Continuing up the path through the Torii we soon pass into a gully at the top of the hill. A second Torii is at the start of the gully which leads to a third Torii behind which is a gated cave entrance. The gate itself is not locked, but is chained and the chain closed with an intricate padlock.
Wakiya examines the lock and notes that it is very very cold and drops the lock which clangs back against the gate. Nameraka then has a go at picking the lock (using his cyberarm and hand to hold the lock). After 30 minutes or so he succeeds and the gate swings open. While this is happening Shadow again feels as if something is watching. Again he asks Wakiya to scan with her scope and again she spots nothing1.
We cautiously enter the cave. While not claustrophobic we need to proceed in single file with Shadow leading followed by Wakiya, Tremen, Ricky, Nameraka and Spooky bringing up the rear. The daylight only goes a few metres into the caves and we are forced to rely on flashlights for illumination. It is cold inside, colder than you would expect for an underground cave though not as cold as the padlock. The passage leads us on a wide downwards spiral with shallow steps and the passage becomes more regular2. After what feels like twenty minutes we reach a crossroads. To the left we hear no sound, unlike to the right where we can definitely hear the sound of running water (in addition the right hand passage looks to be a more roughly hewn passage than any of the other routes. Ahead the passage continues downwards.
As we contemplate our choices Spooky feels a faint breath on her neck. She brushes away the touch and her hand comes back with a cobweb (which results in her paranoia spiking at this point). Nameraka confirms that there is nothing behind her. Spooky puts the web into an evidence pack for later examination. The passageways not not seem to have any cobwebs. One of Spooky's theories is that she has had a tracking device attached but her thorough search doesn't find anything.
Shadow leads us down the left hand passage. This passage seems to be spiralling back upwards and after twenty minutes or so we reach a balcony overlooking a large cavern. Some sconces spring into life as we enter the balcony casting a dim blue light. Spooky is sure she saw something something on the floor of the cavern (it seemed to move in front of a light source at the base of the cavern) but, yet again, there is nothing visible using Wakiya's sniper scope.
We return to the crossroads and cross overe into the right hand passage. After fifteen minutes we come to a midsized flow of water (move than a stream but less than a river). There is a narrow path along side the water with the sound of water over rocks some way further along.
Initial View of the cavern
This seeming a quite risky route we again return to the crossroads and turn right down the straightahead path. This continues to descend in a wide spiral and it is getting noticably colder. After another fifteen minutes or so it opens out into a large cavern. There is the sound of water falling from above and the floor of the cavern is covered in a mist. High above are two dim blue lights illuminating a balcony. This would seem to be the balcony we were on earlier and its plausible that the water falling from the ceiling is from the flowing water spotted in the right hand passage. The cavern floor has been leveled to remove the bigger rocks and obstructions. Visible at the back of the cavern is a small raised area (about two metres by one metre by one metres) with steps leading up to it. There are two dim blue lights on the edges of the raised area and, at the back of the raised area is an archway. Both Wakiya and Nameraka really feel the cold, particularly those parts which held the lock on the gateway (even Nameraka's cyberarm is aching).
Moving closer to the archway we first see strange runes on the arch and then there is a loud crackling sound and the view through archway changes from the back wall of the cavern to a view of the interior of a small ice cave. The surface of the view is rippling making it obvious that the ice cave is NOT here as such. Nameraka (being the bravest of us) puts its cyberarm to the image and it does, indeed, seem to be a portal and he moves through the portal (we can see him through the portal on the other side). Tremen and Shadow go through next followed by the rest of the party. Once through the portal Nameraka and Wakiya feeling of cold gets much worse. There is, however, an orange light ahead.
The view from the ice cave
We round a corner and we're in a cave above a plateau. The view ahead is of a cold landscape. There is a building on one of the hills ahead visible ahead and the sun in the distance is being eclipsed. There is no net or wireless access available here and Tremen takes as many pictures as possible on his mobile phone.
We head back and are very relieved to see that the portal is still operational and still shows the cavern and we return through it (taking more picture to prove (even only to ourselves) that it is a portal). We head back through the passageways back to gated entrance. The position of the gate has moved (it is slightly more open). Nameraka closes the gate, replaces the chain and (using the intricate padlock) locks it.
We reckon it's been about four to five hours and we return down the hill. As we do so Shadow again feels like we're being watched - this time she also feels a sense of hatred from whatever is watching.
We return to the farm and our van where there is no change or signs of interference. Nameraka and Wakiya's sense of feeling cold dissipates.
We return to Section 9. Tremen reports to Lady Kitsune while Shadow and Wakiya attend to cleaning and checking their weaponary (in Wakiya's case to check the calibration of her sniper snope).
On his return Tremen is obviously somewhat shaken and says that (a) we need that building which was visible from the ice cavern and (b) he'll explain more once out at the farm and beyond most forms of survelliance and observation. The team start gathering the equipment and supplies needed to do the investigation while surviving the extreme cold of the location beyond the portal.
Footnotes
After two very low perception rolls Wakiya is also convinced that the scope needs to be recalibrated. ↩
I.e., less of a natural cave but hewn from the rock ↩
Following on from the events of the previous session, Spooky informs Tremen that even with her best efforts she could only get a few more details. SHe was able to reconnect to the Hilton's security system and ascertained the following:
The computer claims this is an image of Mr. Smith but who can know if it actually captured a proper image...
Room 205 was in the name of a Mr. Smith
An attempt to find security footage of this Mr. Smith shows a man walking from the lobby to the room
There is no indication that he left through the front door
From the security cameras the room is empty and looks unused, the only unusual aspect is the open window to the balcony
Whenever Tremen tries to look at the face of Mr. Smith his eyes are always drawn away from it as if Tremen's body was trying to reject seeing it
Just as Spooky finishes showing Tremen the security footage there is a scream from the main room of the Warehouse - it is at this point when (as prevously recorded) Nameraka's arm slipped onto the black mirror. He immediately collapses and his left arm is missing as if sliced off by a very sharp knife. There is a pool of rust coloured melted ice on the floor between him and the black mirror.
Wakiya and Tharbin go to assist Nameraka (Tharbin leaving the small office) with Tharbin managing to stabilise Nameraka to at least the point where Nameraka isn't going to die. It's apparent that Nameraka's arm has been subjected to extreme cold (at least as cold as dry ice or, more likely, liquid nitrogen levels of extreme cold).
Tremen concludes that the Hilton needs to visit as soon as possible and he and Spooky borrow a car from the forensics team and head straight there.
The suspicious tanker truck
Just as Spooky finishes showing Trem
Meanwhile outside Shadow continues examines the trucks. One of them is a tanker and tapping the side of the tanker with a metal pole discovers that lower portion of the tanker does not contain same as the top half of the tanker. Opening the hatches at the top reveals that the top half is indeed fuel. Careful examination of the pipes and valves of the bottom of the tanker reveals that one of the valves is connected to the bottom half of the tanker. With the help of Ricky this vale is cranked open with some difficulty. Once open a viscous liquid comes out, splashing them both.
Tremen and Spooky arrive at the Hilton and, with the help of the manager check out the contents of Room 205. It's just a normal hotel room, but there is a slight scuff mark on the railing of the balcony. The balcony looks out over a park (so there won't be any CCTV that will get a good view of the balcony). Checking the adjacent rooms (particularly those above and below) doesn't reveal anything else unusual and even checking the AV landing pad on the roof only reveals that the only flights were the normal airport shuttle runs.
The rest of the team, after getting Nameraka rushed to hospital maneuver the mirror back into its crate and then the crate into our van.
We all then head back to base1 where we notice Lady Kitsune's department of the crate. One of her associates (who probably has a full body prosthetic) examines it. He is seen (by Shadow) to slap a piece of paper on the crate, but when his hand lifts from the spot there is no such piece of paper.
Tremen makes an in-person report to Lady Kitsune's department.
Two days later
Nameraka rejoins us - his arm has been replaced with a cybernetic arm and hand.
Research has revealed the following:
The substance in the tanker is blood, but not human nor of any known animal
The ash of the Zombie is just the pulped remains of a human and does not have the remains of any cyberware
The adversion effect of the footage of Mr. Smith applies to any member of team (i.e. none of us can concentrate on his face. Interestingly this effect applies even to the still images from the security footage). However we do all agree on his clothing and general appearance
One of Lady Kitsune's associates delivers a manila envelope containing real paper and explains that Lady Kitsune wants us to investigate. The paper gives us an address of a farm and notes that by tracing the tanker movements via street cameras etc. this farm was the most recently (if 20 days ago) location which the tanker visited.
Suspiciously mutant cows at Inagawa Kokusai Farm
The farm, Inagawa Kokusai Farm, is a beef cattle ranch run by AI and owned by the agri-business CoAg.
We head out to the farm. From the road we see nothing unusual and it is obviously run by an AI. We are let in. There are two main building and several grain silos. The buildings are a bunkhouse (used by maintenance personnel and the evidence is that it was last used 10-15 days ago) and a machine room holding equipment and supplies for repairs.
The Torii gate straddling the crumbling path
Nameraka climbs one of the silo and spots a set of steps heading up into the woods behind the farm. We all head up these crumbling, but recently used, steps which lead to a Torii.
The voice doesn't seem to be coming from any loudspeakers (partially because no loudspeakers are visible). We continue to check out the warehouse with Tremen and Wakiya in the back office (which is full of stuff that's basically junk).
However as spooky moves towards the office she spots of tthe corpses of the previously downed hostile. However two things strike her as odd: (1) The corpse is standing up and looking at Spooky and (2) its cyberware is glowing green!
Meanwhile Tharbin examines the three prisoners to ascertain their status - which is: Alive, not bleeding but not in good condition. Tharbin tends to them providing reassurance and ensuring that a paramedic team is its way to assist these victims.
The green glowing thing now giggles and spits a green acid blob/dart at Spooky hitting her and causing her status to change to Seriously Wounded. Hearing Spooky yell Ricky moves towards Spooky and sees the green glowing human near Spooky. Spooky pops a shot at the green thing and misses (at which it giggles again).
Nameraka, Shadow, Tharbin and Wakiya move toward the sounds of trouble - Spooky takes the opportunity to bravely run away, but not before taking a second pop shot, this time succeeding in hitting. In response the green thing just stands there, turns a little and spits at Ricky. Tharbin takes a pot shot and misses.
Tremen, seeing Wakia moving to assist in the fight and wanting to ensure that there's no surprises remaining in the small office complex that Wakiya and Tremen were checking out opens the one remaining unopened door in that part of the warehouse. Behind the door is ... a smaller office - in better condition1 with a running desktop computer.
The team (including Tremen) converge on the green thing start to concentrate fire on it. Tharbin is the next to gain a hit. He notices that its skin seems to be acting similar to combat armour (despite not being obviously anything other than skin). His next shot also hits and causes actual damage. Wakiya also scores a hit.
Now that the thing is concentrating on Ricky, Spooky takes the time to try to recognise the green thing's cyberwear, but doesn't succeed.
More shots pour into the green thing until Shadow gets into a position where he can see the green thing. He takes a single pot shot at it mortally wounding it with that single shot. The body collapses to the floor and the glow disappears. The body then disintegrates into a pile of mush. What appeared to be cyberwear now just looks like bones. Realising that it's beyond what he can quickly examine Tharbin calls back to Section 9 for a forensics team.
Following this excitement we resume (again) our exploration of the warehouse. Nameraka discovers a locked crate suspiciously just the right size to hold a coffin.
Back in the small inner office Tremen examines the desk while calling for Spooky to examine the computer. In the desk are a set of outbound delivery notes. However these have been completed in a simplistic, even childish way - not even a slapdash delivery driver would find these notes useful.
The ambulance for the victims arrives and the paramedics are escorted in by Shadow and Ricky and Tremen assist the paramedics.
This makes room for Spooky and Tharbin to enter the small inner office. The screen of the computer shows a small red dot and as soon as Spooky touches the computer it shut downs. As the shutdown was triggered remotely Spooky is able to quickly jack in (with Tharbin as backup) and follow the ghost line of the connection. It is immediately apparent to Spooky that she needs all her defences but shes traces the ghost line to the Night City Hilton's security gate. This she easily bypasses and tracks the ghost line to Room 205 before the ghost line disappears and Spooky is attacked by the logo of Neuf mères. Her defences hold and, as the connection is broken, she hears a giggle.
Wakiya's investigates some more crates double checking the finding of wallets, purses and watches (both men's and women's watches).
Ricky helps the paramedics with the three victims. As a result he learns that the victims would, most likely, have died in a couple of days without our intervention.
Outside Shadow spots that only two of the parked trucks have been used recently. A red truck and yellow one as it happens2.
Spooky picks the lock on the large crate found by Nameraka. Within it is a layer of packing about 5cm deep. Under that is a wooden shipping crate. The crate looks relatively old (not decrepit just old). Wakiya and Nameraka start to maneuver the wooden crate out of its outer container while Spooky watches on. As this is going on Tharbin and Tremen are assisting the forensics team which arrived shortly after thge paramedic team. Ricky is returning back to the warehouse as the paramedics depart and Shadow is investigating the most recently used trucks.
Using crowbars Wakiya and Nameraka attempt to remove the top of the wooden box. Unfortunately Nameraka fumbles on his side of the box and his left hand and arm slip inside of the box. His hand and arm hit something very cold and as Nameraka withdraws his arm it is covered in rime and ice. He falls to the ground in agony.
Inside the wooden crate is what would be a large full length mirror if it wasn't for the fact that the surface is black not reflective....
Three members of the team enter the office part of the warehouse (they'd like to think they're entering cautiously, but you can judge for yourself....)
Exploring the location of the warehouse we cautiously move into its surrounding courtyard. As we approach the loading bays at the back of the warehouse we become quickly aware of hostiles (gunshots are quite effective at that kind of notification). Shadowdancer get a hit on one of the hostiles, apparently downing him (this hostile had earlier shot at Tremen). Meanwhile Spooky has spotted a set of wires leading into the building and is able to ascertain that the data connection is not being used for significant amounts of data traffic (i.e., no major uploads or downloads are in progress).
Tremen enters the warehouse (via a door next to the set of wires and, for his trouble has to duck behind a forklift truck as several shots are sent in his direction. Shadowdancer, still outside the loading bays, continues exchanging fire with more hostiles, downing one of the hostiles, but getting badly wounded in the process. Tharbin gets to Shadowdancer (while still under fire) and performs first aid on Shadowdancer and enabling Shadowdancer to sort out the one remaining hostile amongst the trucks and vehicles in the loading bays. Nameraka assists in this part of the firefight (although Shadowdancer was concerned that Nameraka's help could be seen as being limited to acting as Mobile Cover!)
Ricky and Wakiya also move into the Warehouse and also come under fire, but from a different hostile than the one firing on Tremen.
Outside a final hostile is engaged by Nameraka and Shadowdancer, this hostile seems to be a somewhat different to the others that been encountered so far. Nameraka successfully wounds this new hostile.
Inside the Warehouse, Ricky and Wakiya deal with their hostile while Tremen's hostile moves off deeper into the Warehouse after being wounded.
The different hostile engaged by Nameraka and Shadowdancer moves into the Warehouse, but is brought down soon after (the hostile is not only followed by Nameraka and Shadowdancer, but is also engaged by Rikcy and Wakiya).
At this point, the warehouse is mostly secured (the hostile wounded by Tremen seems to have scarpered), so we can begin a (still cautious) investigation of it.
The warehouse seems to be a packing operation of some kind (there are workstations along side a conveyor belt leading to a some kind of packing station). It does look like what you would expect for that kind of commercial operation.
Ricky reports the discovery of a box about the size of a suit case tucked away in a corner that contains valuables. These include watches, jewellery, and several wallets none of which have any money but one does contain an ID card (someone was careless when emptying it). The card belongs to an Amanda Orwell, it states that she was a purchasing manager for Neuf mères.
Tharbin finds a door secured with an electronic lock and calls over Spooky to open it. Inside is a small room with three people. They are barely alive. Some food and an overflowing bucket are also in the room.
As we continue checking the people, the offices, the crates (one of which has a collection of firearms), a deep resonating voice (more felt than heard) says:
That won't do. That won't do at all. Prey should know what it is, although more quick bodies for the fire is always a bonus.
After a short break (of a few weeks in length) we all reconvene and are joined by Nameraka who has been on a long undercover operation. The short break has been very quiet - we've been getting on with paperwork and our investigation has continued but with no active events. Specifically we've been:
Tremen
Doing background research on the South American Mercenary Company and the South African publishing company (Both of whom are about 18 months old)
Ricky
Heads to the streets looking for rumours and hints about unusual activity (but is met with either spun yarns or with looks of perplexed looks)
Shadowdancer
Heads to the bars in a similar fashion to Ricky (if inside rather than outside in the rain and is met with similar wild tales or strange looks)
Spooky Witch
Scans the dark web and the real web for hits on anything related to the events in Cyberpunk Session 10 (She finds that Over the past couple of weeks several observatories around the world have reported that 5 stars that where thought to be stable and years before their time to go nova have disappeared. This unknown stellar phenomena has not been seen before and the scientific community are a buzz for it's implications. and The spree of murders attributed to Sgt. Masher have continued, the total is up to 27 and it is believed are there more as the homeless, immigrant and transient population cannot be fully accounted for.
Tharbin
Gives our american colleagues a nudge about progress on their research (and is relieved to learn that, while they can't add anything at present, that the investigation is proceeding).
Wakiya
Checks the Weirdo magazines but reports that she can't find anything directly relevant at this point
Ricky and Shadowdancer return to the office (Shadowdancer a little worse for wear) in the late afternoon and our conversation (which is just going around in around in circles) is interrupted by two burly gentleman enter the office and insist (in no uncertain terms) we accompany them. After Tremen checks their ID we comply. They take us to the elevators and, after the doors close, we are surprised (some less os that others) when the elevator goes sideways instead of up or down. When the elevator stops its right wall slides away to reveal a new lobby and we are led to a well-appointed office. (On the way Ricky and Tremen overhear part of a conversation: Perrrfect now we have some new blood and at least one member of our group is convinced they can smell food cooking behind a closed door - it smells good).
The office has a picture window showing a view of Sakura trees (bearing in mind our offices are up in a standard office block this is a liitle unusual but perhaps it's simply a generated picture though the image does look extremely realistic). We are greeted by a Smartly dressed woman in a Kimono. She is Lady Kitsune and says that Daisuke1 has given me permission to move your squad over to my part of Section 9. She further explains that, while we may find her information unbelievable the daylight world isn't all that there is and that the the secret world of Yoki, Oni and the like is very real, the Illuminati, Templars, and Dragons to name but a few are all part of this Himitsu no sekai. She tells us that, for now, we should continue our investigation into the activities of Neuf mères in Japan and while we are to have access to this part of the building it has no cell, net or direct lines so any information must be handed over in person and that we may see things in this part of the building that are not normal.
CCTV view of the warehouse
She then tell us that the maid of Sato2 has been found - more accurately her body has been found. She was killed with a single shot. The shot was from a gun believed to be a Pool gun3. The autopsy suggests she was killed in a different location and then taken to the location where the body was found.
She also tells us about a Warehouse where she believes that the gang using the gun uses and tells us that She wants the warehouse raided Now, no warrant, no notice.....
The Warehouse is in a rundown part of town. On the southeast corner of the warehouse is the entrance to a parking lot and a set of offices.
After a very short planning session we head to the warehouse and start the raid....
After a short break to clean up and have a short nap we return to Section 9's offices and discuss the latest findings. More importantly though there are have been another 5 masher-style murders overnight while we were in the sewers. The murders all occured between midnight and 1am and were spread out around the city night with no obvious pattern and clearly physically impossible for a single person to do (and clearly not Masher as we were all in the sewers at the time).
After an extensive search of the net Wakiya discovers that the symbol crops up more than once, although it is slightly different each time the basics remain the same. The top search results are a Mercenary company in South America called "Isqun Umayuq Mach’aqway", a publishing company in South Africa called "Inyoka yamakhanda ayisishiyagalolunye" and an antiques company called "Neuf mères". Of these only Neuf mères has any presence in Newport City, a small warehouse on the waterfront in the port at Dejima.
In fact the team discovers (with Ricky having the best memory) that the nine pointed star was used as an emblem by the thugs we encountered just a couple of days ago. In fact it rapidly becomes apparent that the Neuf mères warehouse was one and the same warehouse where we found the body of Hoga Itami. Pulling up the survelliance camera for that area shows that the area is now relatively clean and tidy (there is still the wreck of a burned out car, but that's actually about it for the debris from the fight scene). The camera just about shows one of the outside edges of the Neuf mères warehouse. Pulling the maps and plans for the area shows no obvious overlook for the warehouse, which has several windows on the upper storey, a main loading roller door and a couple of double doors on side walls.
After discussing equipment options and requistioning a Tachikoma as backup we head to the warehouse.
The warehouse is strangely clean, tidy and, despite having many boxes and even shipping containers, remarkably empty (the boxes and shipping containers are empty). After some considerable searching we find a grate in what should be a bathroom (it only has a washbasin apart from the grate). We lift the grate and it reveals a shaft and ladder about one person wide leading downwards.
We head down the ladder - it is a long way down (well below the water level of the adjacent harbour!). In fact our ears pop as we descend and eventually arrive at a small 8x8 metre room with a corridor leading onwards.
Heading down the corridor there is a long window on the left hand side of the corridor which shows outer space as far as we can see. We seem to be in some sort of asteroid or microsatellite!
Despite that worrying view we continue to the end of the corridor where there is a similar 8x8 metre room with a shaft and ladder leading up. At this point Tharbinsan realises that perhaps we should let the Tachikoma know where we are and heads back.
The rest of the team climbs the ladder into a cave! The scene that greets us as we exit the cave is unnerving to say the least. We are stood on an outcropping jutting out from an escarpment
that stretches of east and west. From this vantage point you look out over a vast forest that extends beyond what our eyes can see. Everything is bathed in a harsh green light, the air is breathable but there is a slight musty taste to it.
As we watch there is subtle movement out over the forest and a slowly building hum. The hum builds and builds and then there is a blinding flash and a view of a beam of light launching itself into the sky. There is also the appearance of a pressure wave heading our way and we rapidly retreat back into the cave and down the shaft and back to the warehouse.
Alien world?
As we emerge back into the warehouse there are several rumbles and crashes and then a fountain of seawater erupts from the grate and subsides. Shocked and bemused (and, in Tremen's case at least, worried about our sanity) we return to Tharbinsan and the Tachikoma (Tharbinsan is unable to find any evidence of hallucinogenics).
We use a couple of bits of software to allow us to play roleplaying via a virtual tabletop:
Discord
The location of the settings icon
To allow voice communication we use discord. The desktop version can be downloaded for free from here. You do not need to pay anything to download, setup and use discord1. Once installed and you've registered yourself as a user contact myself or Neil to get an invite to what Discord calls our "server" (a collection of text, voice and even video channels).
There are a few settings we require and/or recommend. You can get to the settings page via the cog icon at the bottom left hand corner of discord's window:
My Voice & video settings
Once there select Voice & Video and check (and if necessary change) the following settings (note you can click on the image to see at full size):
INPUT DEVICE
Which microphone do you want to use. If you have only one microphone you can probably leave this at the default2.
OUTPUT DEVICE
Which speakers do you want to use. If you have only one of set of speakers you can probably leave this at the default. If, however, you have both a set of speakers AND a headset you need to either change the default in Windows to send sound to your headset or choose which one discord should use here3.
INPUT VOLUME
Leave at the default of 100% unless everyone complains you're too loud. If you find someone else is too loud you can adjust just their volume as explained below.
OUTPUT VOLUME
If you're finding everyone else is too loud or too quiet you can change the global volume here.
Choose which key to press when you want to speak. I use the left control button on the keyboard5 but Neil uses one of his mouse buttons, You can choose almost any key for this.
PUSH-TO-TALK RELEASE DELAY
Move the slider to increase the time between when you release the push-to-talk key and the time your microphone becomes muted. Note that the default is 0 milliseconds and typically your fingers are ahead of your mouth and hence your final word gets either cut in half or muted completely. Mine is set to around 500ms which seems to work.
There's also a section of settings for Notifications that includes a PTT Activate and a PTT Deactivate notification sounds. Note, however, that the notification sounds are NOT sent to the output device you chose in Voice & Video but just sent as audio to windows. So if your default windows output device are your speakers you'll need to go to your windows settings6, select System then Sound followed by App volume and device preferences and then, With the discord app running, manually choose the devices to be used for sound for the Discord application7.
If you find that one person's voice is too loud or too quiet you can manually how loud they are by right-clicking their name in the voice chat channel and then moving the slider to increase or decrease their individual volume.
Discord will check if it needs updates as part of its startup process and will do an update if necessary
There are also mobile versions of the application for both Android and Apple available in their respective app stores. I do not recommend using a mobile for voice8 but I do recommend it as a way of seeing (and getting notifications about) the text channels.
I strongly recommend going through the setup for discord well before the first game session since, inevitably, it takes a while to get the setup working exactly the way you want it to9
Fantasy Grounds Unity main page
Fantasy Grounds Unity
You'll be glad to learn that there's less setup needed for Fantasy Grounds Unity. You can download it from their home page. You only need the Free Demo vesrion since both myself and Neil have Ultimate Licenses which allow us to host games for those with the free demo versiom. If you ever wanted to run a game you'd need to get the ultimate version since we have players with only the free demo version.
The free demo version has, for players, all the features of the core license or ultimate versions.
When the time comes we will lead you through how to join a game10. I do recommend that before every game session you fire up Fantasy Grounds Unity and look to see if it needs any updates. Our game sessions are widely enough spread out that there's usually some updates that have been made between our game sessions.
Footnotes
Discord does have a premium currency called Nitro to allow the purchase of additional features. We've not found the need to purchase anything. ↩
I do have two microphones potentially connected so I do set the device here. ↩
Similarly I do have both speakers and a headset so have to set the output device. ↩
This keeps the channel quiet except when someone wants to talk and hence avoids unneccessary distractions. ↩
Note that when I press the left control key to push-to-talk it still acts as a control key so I do have to be aware of that should I try to use any other key (for example to do something in Fantasy Grounds Unity). ↩
These instructions assume you're using Windows 10. ↩
Note that this is a real pain since whenever discord updates its main application the windows settings treats it as a new application and you'll have to go in and change these settings again - I haven't found a better way to do this so far. ↩
It does work but getting push-to-talk to work is not as straightforward. ↩
Don't get me wrong, it is good software but as seen above it can require a fair bit of setting up to get everything the way you want it to be. ↩
Assuming, of course, you have successfully set up Discord and joined the voice chat channel. ↩
Tharbinsan gets a report emailed from the US Military about Sgt. Malory. Having been alerted to the possibility by our questions they confirm that the Brain Case currently in their possession is actually a very good copy of the original brain case. They believe that the swap of Sgt. Malory's brain case must have occured during autopsy of Sgt. Malory. The autopsy was conducted by a civilian contractor who they are now investigating. Tharbinsan requests to be kept informed of the investigation, though Tharbinsan is not convinced that he will be kept in the loop.
We are then called to Section 9's chief office ASAP to meet with the Chief himself. He informs us that a Kenbishi tank undergoing testing has gone rogue and as the pilot of the tank has an ID card identifying him as Kendo Ita it's obviously related in some way with our case. The chief informs us that the tank killed seven members of the ground crew involved in prepping the tank and we are to head out to the Kenbishi Proving Grounds immediately.
Kenbishi Proving Ground
The tank as seen by the CCTV shortly before the incident
On arrival we are met by Rochard Komashi, director of development for the tank project and we split into two teams. Myself and Spooky head to the Admin Wing while Tharbinsan, Ricky and Wakiya head to the proving ground where the tank has been covered in high performance riot foam to ensure its immobility. Only the bodies of the ground crew have been recovered before our arrival allowing Tharbinsan to do a closer examination of the undisturbed2cockpit. The pilot was slumped over the control hardware and Tharbinsan quickly determines that the cause of death was the burning, from the inside, of the pilot brain. In fact the burning was more of an explosion with the eyes having been destroyed and significant damage to the pilot's jackplugs. The evidence suggests that some kind of major electrical pulse was responsible.
Meanwhile myself and Spooky check into the background of the ground crew and the pilot. There's no sign of anything untoward in the ground crew's record and while the ID card says Kendo Ita that's not who the pilot was. Kendo Ita was, however, employed by Kenbishi but the security systems do not show any entries or exits from Kenbishi facilities since his disappearance and Spooky confirms that there is no sign of any security or cyber intrusion into Kenbishi's systems or facilities in the last seven days3.
Wakiya manages to calm one of the techs at the scene enough to ascertain that the tech has no idea how the accident occured: the tank walked out of its garage after being prepped and then turned and gunned down the ground crew. In fact when Tharbinsan reviews the data feeds about the health of the pilot there's no sign of anything unusual up to the death of the pilot. Ricky examines the locker of the pilot and confirms that the mystery continues as there nothing unusual there either.
Kendo was responsible for the failsafe programs that are part of the tank's software. All the evidence (both physical and the survelliance records) show that these failsafe programs functioned perfectly on the death of the pilot and as the tank is controlled by a virtual reality setup4 we meet up at the scene and ask Spooky to take a closer examination of the cockpit.
Spooky does so but is spooked when she gets both a feeling of being watched and a twitch from the body of the pilot. After some reassurance5 and the removal of the pilot's body Spooky re-examines the cockpit. She realises that (a) the tank is under the control of the tank's AI and its safety protocols, (b) there doesn't seem to be any malware in the tank's system, (c) that a remote network could be connected to the tank and (d) that remote network could still be connected. Spooky insulates herself from the tank's systems via a dummy barrier and then attempt to do a backtrace on any such remote network.
She gets enough information to show that there is such a signal and manages to track it as far as a Saizeniya restaurant on Rokko Island. By road that's about two hours but, after some persuasion, Kenbishi agrees to take most of the team6 via VTOL to the location.
Rokko Island
The Saizeriya restaurant identified by the backtrace of the network connection to the tank
On arrival at the general area of the restuarant there are workers and tourists going about their normal business. The still faint signal is actually coming from below ground and the team finds the nearest manhole cover and head down in the claustrophobic sewers below.
Marching Order
Tharbinsan has dropped his bag of medical supplies down the manhole
Ricky
Carrying a torch and pistol
Tharbinsan
Carrying a pistol
Spooky
Carrying her equipment in front of her (so initially no torch nor pistol)
Wakiya
Carrying a torch (on belt) and Pistol
On arrival at the bottom of the manhole is a small space and a door in the north of the space.
Footnotes
Again supplemented by Dawn's notes which, as is usual, are more comprehensive than mine! ↩
Undisturbed if you ignore the fine blood splatter from the pilot and the vomit of the team who initially went to rescue the pilot and discovered the scene. ↩
Spooky wisely decides not to try to do so herself! ↩
i.e., the pilot is connected to the tank and its sensor suite via a direct input to pilot's visual cortex ↩
On arrival at the entrance to the alleyway (as described in the last session) we discover that alley leads to an array of warehouses.
We cautiously (if somewhat independently) made our way past a small firefight between some yazuka and a small gang down the street (some of us using the alleyways) to the end of the street where there is a gate leading to the driveway of a warehouse. The warehouse itself is to the right of the driveway while the driveway itself leads to a small wharf. There are dim lights on the corners of the warehouse illuminating the outside of the building but the dim light together with the rain makes visibility quite low.
Artist's impression from Tremen's description of the lizard full body conversion.
Tremen is the first to arrive at the compound and (with difficulty but only opposed by a malfunctioning mechanism) opens the gate and proceeds inside. On the driveway is a small pickup style van which is unoccupied and empty. The warehouse itself is closed and locked. Tremen, followed up by Wakiya, cautiously heads around the corner of the building and sees Hoga Itami on the ground propped up on his right arm.
Even in the dim light he sees a large pool of blood. Over Hoga stands a full body conversion1 of a borg Lizard which is just pulling the rippers of its right hand out of Hoga's face. The borg Lizard jumps into the water and, even though Tremen manages to squeeze off a shot (and Tremen believes he wounded the borg Lizard) the borg Lizard swims off into the estuary.
Spooky reports that there is no comms chatter in the local area despite the presence of us, the body and the firefight in the street.
Hoga's body is well mangled. There is a small handgun towards to the boxes against the wall. The gun has been fired once. Hoga is wearing a tatty business suit and we have several observations to make:
Wakiya suggests that Hoga was herded to this location
Tharbinsan's gut feeling is that there was more than one group involved in the situation2
Tremen's gut feeling is that the attack on Hoga was one of focused anger more than anything else.
Footnotes
Full body conversion aren't too difficult in terms of the hardware required. However the medical work needed is significant and requires a decent lab and doctor - neither of which will come cheap ↩
The firefight is continuing back in the street and alleys as we investigate ↩
As described in the second set of notes, Hayato Kita had a note in his appointment book for a meeting in Shinchuko station with a Maria at 12:30 tomorrow. Maria would apparently be wearing a pink carnation. Spooky examined the CCTV footage which showed there was indeed a lady waiting in Shinchuko station at the relevant. She stayed for about 15 minutes and then walked out with an annoyed and disgusted expression. Checking with facial recognition reveals she is Maria Estoban, the daughter of a Mexican businessman who is a executive for Pemex. She has since returned with her father to South America. Spooky then made a phone with Maria and confirmed that the meeting was set up for her to meet with Hayato Kita and to be shown a good time but was stood up.
Kuroi tsuki
The Underground braindance studio is actually not all that underground. It's actually well known in the right circles (Celebrities, Politicos etc). and I decided to pay the club a visit during the morning. The building is relatively small and somewhat more upbeat and presentable than the surrounding buildings. Ground floor has no windows with a door next to its car park (with about 15 parking spaces) and while the upper two floors do have windows, the first floor windows have been blocked off on the inside. The windows on the top floor are also blacked out. After using the intercom I'm ushered in and taken to the manager. Overall impression is of a business that is legitimate if sailing somewhat close to the wind. The club is being tidied up from the previous night's activities. The manager is somewhat relieved when the topic of conversation is revealed to be about Kendo Ita whereabouts2. The manager and staff doesn't recognise him but are able to confirm that no bodies have been found at the club for a while.
Hoga Itami
Tharbinsan follows up on Hoga Itami's rap sheet which showed arrests for GBH and robbery for which he served some time in jail. His current whereabouts are unknown. Tharbinsan arranges for a facial recognition scan and alert to be made for Hoga - initially indications are that he is still in the city but no specific immediate trace of his location is available.
Kendo Ito
Wakiya looks for more information on Kendo Ita. He worked for an arms manufacturer as a programmer of emergency protocols for vehicle operation. The company's records show that he was staying at the Negoya Hotel (the hotel used by the company when staff are in the city).
The best image I could persuade the image generator to come up with.
Later in the evening
After taking a short rest we are alerted that there has been another body found with the MO of Sergeant Masher. The body is in the Dajima district and we head over there. As we cross the bridge into the district there is an emergency call from the team tracking Hoga. He has been seen in the company of two women and we are given the rough location (only a rough location as the CCTV coverage in that area is somewhat patchy). Hoga walks out of a bar with a woman on each arm. One of the woman's heads explodes and Hoga takes a couple of seconds to react, dropping the body of the dead woman. As he does so the stomach of the other woman explodes and Hoga dives into the shocked crowd and disappears into an alley after three more civilians are butchered. Several people are bumped as if by an invisible person and we head to the location of the alley.
On location, just beyond the alley, there are two ground cars (the nearest merely has a smoking engine, the further one is a wreck!).
Footnotes
Thanks for Dawn for her comprehensive notes - way better than mine own! ↩
Presumably there are illegimate activities ongoing at the club but as those are, probably, irrelevant, I didn't follow up on this - there's no need to cause unnecessary trouble and should trouble prove to be necessary we can always come back! ↩
