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Encounter Conditions
After successfully passing through at least one Security Hole or Deeper into the camp.
Initial Text
You find a trio of Fang guards standing watch over a pile of crates, staring intently out into the darkness and slamming cup after cup of coffee. You can see a few strangely writhing tablets fallen from one of the crates that could only be Eclipse.
Summary of Choices
- Start a fight - fight 3 Dockside Gangers
- Stay and eavesdrop - gain 2 XP Will or gain Dr. Thomas as a contact when < 10 Fangs have been killed.
- Add the Eclipse to a coffee (evil) - 2 XP in Perception, or (if Etheric) 3 XP in Will; distract guards (?)
- Leave them be - walk away
Choice Text and Results
Start a fight
You charge into the midst of the guards, scattering them before they can surround you.
(Fight 3 Dockside Gangers)
Stay and eavesdrop
You carefully position yourself behind the crates. None of the guards seem to be talking, just jumping at the slightest sound.
Periodically one of them will try to start up a new conversation, but it'll just break back down into nervous silence after a minute.
You stay there for as long as you can stand it, then head on your way.
You've earned 2 XP in Will
When <10 Fangs have been killed, first time:
You listen carefully to the gangers, hiding behind the crates so they won't catch sight of you. They move from the Eclipse market to the boss's relations with someone named Dr. Adrianna Thomas.
After a few minutes, they've given enough information about her that you're able to track down her contact information.
You've gained a new contact: Dr. Thomas
When <10 Fangs have been killed, further times, one of:
As you hide behind the crates, you strain to hear their quiet conversation. They're mostly just talking about drugs, which you suppose qualifies as "shop talk" down here.
One of them is rambling off an elaborate conspiracy theory about how Midgard Industries owns Metroplex and has banned neural recordings just because they don't want money going to their competitor Zaibatsu. Eventually one of the others cuts him off with a "we know, man. That's old news… like back-when-Benny-Smith-played-baseball old."
With that topic cut off, they discuss how the trip from Eclipse is "more real than the best recordings." After a while, though, the discussion just degenerates into them wishing the market wasn't so saturated… mostly so they could sell tablets for top cred rather than almost giving them away.
You've earned 2 XP in Perception
Or:
You hide on the far side of the crates, listening in on their conversation. They're talking about TV, which seems strangely mundane somehow.
Apparently one of them is a die-hard Matsuo the Demonslayer fan, which lets him bond a little with his coworker who's into competitive fencing. The third guard maintains an embarrassed silence throughout the conversation.
You've earned 2 XP in Perception
Or:
You hide on the far side of the crates, listening in on their conversation. They're discussing Midgard Security Forces, the contractor that handles security for most of Metroplex.
One of the gangers is quite insistent that they'll ignore Eclipse deals right under their noses. Another thinks that's ridiculous, but insists they're kidnapping bums from Southside.
The third, a bit older, tells both of them to shove it. Apparently he won't hear any "blaspheming" against Midgard because they provided treatment to his family after a massive industrial accident.
You've earned 2 XP in Perception
Add the Eclipse to a coffee (evil (4))
You carefully grab a few tablets of Eclipse from one of the crates, then sneak up behind the guards. You wait in the shadows for an opportunity, then slip the tablets into the guard's drink.
At first it seems like nothing will happen, but he stares off into space, grabbing at something you can't see. The other guards giggle at him like idiots, as though this were the funniest thing they'd ever seen.
It attracts quite a crowd after a while, with the drugged ganger as the main attraction.
You've earned 2 XP in Perception
If Etheric:
You carefully grab a few tablets of Eclipse from one of the crates, then sneak up behind the guards. You wait in the shadows for an opportunity, then slip the tablets into the guard's drink.
At first it seems like nothing will happen, but a shadowy shape flits around him. He lunges at it, his face frozen into a mask of terrible need. It moves away playfully, leading him in a comedic dance.
The other guards giggle like idiots, joined by several others as the "show" continues. You manage to resist joining in, but something about the shadowy bird tugs at you like something loved and lost.
You've earned 3 XP in Will
If you are Etheric and successfully fled from a Lake Serpent:
You carefully grab a few tablets of Eclipse from one of the crates, then sneak up behind the guards. You wait in the shadows for an opportunity, then slip the tablets into the guard's drink.
You wait for a minute… maybe nothing's going to happen.
Eventually, you hear one of the serpents' bellowing roars in the distance and he turns in terror. His partners and several other Fangs gather around to see what might have drawn his attention.
The serpent ignores them, surging in from the lake to pick him up in its jaws. He fires wildly, hitting the serpent a few times, but his companions far more.
By the time the chaos has played out, five Fangs lie dead and the one you drugged has been pulled bleeding into the lake.
If you successfully fled from the Lake Serpent and aren't Etheric:
You carefully grab a few tablets of Eclipse from one of the crates, then sneak up behind the guards. You wait in the shadows for an opportunity, then slip the tablets into the guard's drink.
You wait for a minute… maybe nothing's going to happen.
Eventually, he turns towards the lake, his face frozen in terror. His partners and several other Fangs gather around to see what might have drawn his attention.
He's jerked into the air, terrible wounds bleeding around invisible teeth. He fires his gun wildly, a few shots hanging in the air, but most just striking his comrades.
By the time the chaos has played out, five Fangs lie dead of gunshot wounds. The one you drugged is pulled, bleeding and unconscious, into the lake.
Leave them be
See walk away