Difference between revisions of "The World"

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http://theshadowrun.proboards.com/thread/346
http://theshadowrun.proboards.com/thread/346


==The Seattle Sprawl==
===Ares Macrotechnology===


https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1_1ES7tdzvO65eeErMFvEu_uedVM&hl=en_US
'''Headquarters:''' Detroit, UCAS


===The Redmond Barrens===
'''Core Industries:''' AresSpace, Ares Global Entertainment, Ares Arms, Knight Errant Security Services, and General Motors


The district of Redmond was once among the most prosperous places in the Seattle region. During the late twentieth century, it developed from a suburban community into a major center for the computer industry. Huge office complexes and skyscrapers sprang up as more and more companies moved in. Then came the Crash of 2029, the viral attack that crippled the world telecommunications network and wiped out computer systems everywhere. Redmond's primary industry died overnight. Eighty percent of the businesses in the district collapsed, along with the local government, which was unable to cope with the disaster. A small percentage of the residents fled to Bellevue, which was also suffering from the effects of the Crash. The rest turned to lawlessness and riots.
===Aztechnology===


Drawn by the abandoned homes and apartment buildings, refugees from other districts and Seattle's homeless began moving into the area. This caused further violence, prompting more "respectable people" to flee Redmond, resulting in more empty buildings, which in turn attracted additional squatters. Within a few years, this vicious cycle transformed Redmond into a ghost town inhabited by criminals, transients, refugees, and those who were unable or unwilling to get out.
'''Headquarters:''' Tenochtitlan, Aztlan


Roughly half a million people live in Redmond, though it's tough to come up with an accurate number because most of the population is SINless and it's impossible conduct an official census. Permanent residents come from diverse backgrounds, but the percentage of metahumans is generally fairly low—a reminder of the prejudicial suburban attitude and the widely held belief that metahumans couldn't hack it (pun intended) in the ratified world of computer programming.
'''Core Industries:''' food, consumer goods, and thaumaturgical products


In Redmond today, a scrap of food or a cheap trinket can be a reason to die. Bands of squatters and gangs attack the weekly convoys of armed trucks that deliver food to the district's few grocery stores. Abject poverty gives rise to a host of social ills that repeatedly drag down every resident ambitious enough to attempt to rise above his or her station—or even to behave as a relatively decent metahuman being. Aside from a few remarkable cases, Redmond is a seething mass of violence waiting to explode.
===Cross Applied Technologies===


Rather than attempting to find a way to improve the communities in the Barrens, the few companies that bother to have facilities to protect their investments. Many of them hire the toughest, most socially alienated squatters and gangers they can find as security guards. "Accidental" shootings in and around local corporate facilities are just another fact of life in Redmond.
'''Headquarters:''' Montreal, Quebec


The syndicates are big in Redmond, of course, and the Mafia and the yakuza run the local black market. Because even legal goods are difficult to get in Redmond, the biggest market is for daily necessities like food and medical supplies, followed closely by "entertainment" such as pirated trid, sim-chips, BTLs, booze, porn, and similar moneymakers. There's a brisk business in illegal weapons, though the syndicates are careful which factions they choose to arm. They keep most arms sales small unless the mobs are preparing their own gangers and soldiers for war.
'''Core Industries:''' computers, electronics, multimedia products, biotech


Redmond is the perfect breeding ground for new syndicate muscle, mainly because the only way most youngsters can make it off the streets is by joining one of the mobs. Yakuza and Mafia recruiters keep their eyes open for promising young talent, especially from the local gangs, and the Seoula Rings also use Redmond as a recruiting center. At least five Rings tunnel recruits out of Redmond and into their ranks elsewhere in the metroplex. The Seven Triangles Ring is currently leading the pack–probably because their recruitment tactics seem specifically designed to scare the drek out of the candidates.
===Fuchi===


Redmond attracted a larger suburban population because it is mostly flat, with a few hills in the southern end and the Snoqualmie River winding through almost a third of the distrct. Now the river is filthy, choked with toxic sludge, and other refuse (including the more-than-occasional corpse). Massive packs of devil rats live all along the shoreline, some of the horribly mutated by whatever drek is in the water.
'''Headquarters:''' Tokyo, Japan


Apart from the kilometers of abandoned buildings, the cracked and deteriorating streets, and the vast slums and squatter "cities," Redmond's only distinctive features are the "toxic castles," as locals call the various factories and manufacturing plants. Plenty of them look a lot like techno-Gothic structures of rusting metal and soot-covered brick, surrounded by moats of their own poisonous filth and high walls topped with razorwire. Armed guards regularly patrol the walls to keep the facilities safe from armies of squatters and roving gangs, and most plants ship materials in and out via helicopter or tilt-rotor to avoid bringing trucks through Redmond's dangerous streets.
'''Core Industries:''' Matrix technology


<span id="Touristville">The only marginally safe area of Redmond is the section that borders Bellevue, near the offices of the so-called Redmond District Government. Known as "'''Touristville'''," the area caters to tourists and slummers from Bellevue who come to experience the "thrill" of the Barrens and hang out in sleazy clubs. Lone Star actually patrols here. but smart visitors bring along their own protection by packing heat or (If they can afford It) traveling with a bodyguard.</span>
===Mitsuhama===


====Crusher 495====
'''Headquarters:''' Kyoto, Japan
''124th Avenue and 143rd Street''


This bar and restaurant on the western edge of Touristville is owned and operated by a group of orks who opened the establishment after the Night of Rage. The place is popular with people from Bellevue and Downtown looking for a real "Barrens" experience, and the owners and staff work hard to make their establishment a sort of community center where the locals can gather. Racists have attacked the place more times than anyone can count, but Crusher 495 offers such a rare and successful opportunity for all the races to gather under one roof in harmony that the Humanis-types only create bad press for themselves by targeting it.
'''Core Industries:''' computers and robotics


''495 is a good place to be among friends in Redmond, especially if you're metahuman. The guide makes the place sound as corny as a 1960s musical, but it just happens to be —people can get together here without the pressures that normally make us fuck with each other. Johnsons, on the other hand, like it as a "neutral ground" between Bellevue and the true depths of the Barrens, where no suit is going to go.'' - Tuskadero
===NeoNET===


''Janus Koskey, the manager of the 495, hears everything going on in Redmond worth knowing. He'll pass on information from time to time for a reasonable fee. He's also been known to arrange introductions between Johnsons and shadow-talent, provided neither side is Humanis or looking to cause trouble for the locals.'' - Solo Mio
'''Headquarters:''' Boston, UCAS


====The Skeleton====
'''Core Industries:''' Matrix infrastructure, software, electronics, biotech
''Redmond Fall City Road and 196th Avenue NE''


The Skeleton is Redmond's hottest nightclub, located on the southern edge of Touristville. Redmond's best musicians trek out to the Skeleton most every night in hopes of being discovered by one of the talent scouts or media-corp people who frequent the club. It also attracts Bellevue's young and well-off, who enjoy the thrill of "slumming" in Redmond.
===Renraku===


''The Skeleton's management likes to keep the place looking good, which tends to mean orks and trolls aren't welcome. An average-size bribe usually convinces the bouncer that you'd add "color" the place.'' - Goblin Boy
'''Headquarters:''' Chiba, Japan


''Great place to snatch some corporate kid and put pressure on mommy or daddy. Security is tight for that very reason, and a lot of goldenkids have their own bodyguards, but it still beats the odds of successfully breaking into a high-security condoplex.'' - Archangel
'''Core Industries:''' memory storage and databases


''The passion of some of those musical acts regularly attracts free spirits to the place. Must be something about the surrounding despair and that desperate urgency to escape you can hear in the songs--draws 'em like a magnet. You can spot them leaning on a pillar, looking a bit too cool, gazing unblinking up at the stage while a mosh pit is consuming itself right in front of them.'' - Darth Vaper
===Saeder-Krupp===


====The Plastic Jungles====
'''Headquarters:''' Essen, Germany


At the turn of the century, a wealthy agriculturist built twenty of the world's largest greenhouses in north-western Redmond, not far from Echo Lake. The giant tent-like buildings, several kilometers in diameter, stand on land that was considered too polluted to grow crops. The agriculturist proved the skeptics wrong—almost. The land yielded amazing harvests of food, but most of it was too contaminated for consumption.
'''Core Industries:''' heavy industry, nuclear energy, oil, chemistry, aerospace and telecommunications.


The huge greenhouses were used to grow tropical flowers and other decorative plants until the Crash of '29, when the backer lost his fortune and the entire project was abandoned. Primarily because no one else had ventured into the area, the lion's share of Redmond's metahuman population moved into the agri-domes to live among the wild offshoots of the original plants.
===Shiawase===


The squatters living in the Plastic Jungles are understandably paranoid about outsiders, especially humans. They're organized into urban tribes and scratch out what existence they can from the poisoned soil. Tribal shamans are working to cleanse the soil of contaminants so that the squatters can grow some of their own food. Those who succeed, of course, immediately become targeted by gangs and scavengers looking to steal the food supplies.
'''Headquarters:''' Osaka, Japan


''Ironically, the metahuman tribes of the Plastic Jungles are a shining example of racial cooperation. Elves works alongside orks, dwarfs, and trolls to protect and sustain the tribes, and most of the metahumans in the community have put aside their differences in order to survive. "Normas" are not well-liked or trusted, but the tribes don't kill visitors out of hand.'' - Smiley
'''Core Industries:''' power systems, biotech, environmental technology, business analysis


''The Plastic Jungles are truly a sight to see. Dirty grayish canopies of bioplastic high over a near-tropical world that is warm and free of rain. The grounds of the old greenhouses are covered with a riot of tropical and semi-tropical vegetation, creeping vines, and exotic flowers in every color of the rainbow, filling the air with a heady scent. The metahumans built tents and shelters out of discarded bioplastic sheeting, wood, thatching, and whatever other materials they could gather. If it wasn't for the contaminated soil and the near-total lack of modern conveniences, the place would almost be pleasant.'' - Greely
===Wuxing===


''Oddly enough, there's some awakened critters that seem to have adapted to the contamination. You'll hear flocks of birds and see all manner of fauna thriving. Now you know and I know that evolution can't happen that quickly--so what the frag is going on in there?'' - Birdwatcher
'''Headquarters:''' Hong Kong Free Enterprise Enclave


====="Mama" Palazzo=====
'''Core Industries:''' finance, heavy industry, shipping, automotive, consumer goods and services


Nearly without exception, this bucolic dwarf can be found in the territory she's staked out in the Plastic Jungles for her garden. Tended by her and a small number of volunteers, Mama has managed to cultivate a number of beneficial plants that she uses to brew up herbal remedies. Despite the Jungle's lack of any formal system of management, Mama feels a responsibility to the Jungle community, and she has a degree of influence over it with some members out of respect for what she does.
===Yamatetsu===


''The jungle lacks "any formal system of management" because it's an anarcho-communist syndicate. It doesn't need anyone in charge, as much as that may surprise whatever corp drone wrote the report this text was pulled from.'' - Rude Rocker
'''Headquarters:''' Kyoto, Japan


''Palazzo is just a relatively well-known gorilla in what's literally a lawless jungle. The metahumans in there aren't any more civilized than the plants or the awakened creatures, and any of them are just as likely to kill and eat you. Going in there with the hope of finding anything more than roving packs of animals, or what might as well be animals, is expecting too much.'' - The Keynesian Kid
'''Core Industries:''' Crashcart Medical Services, consumer products, naval technology


====The Brain Eaters====
==Non-Corporate / Non-Government Organizations==


The Brain Eaters are a mixed-race gang operating in the Touristville area. The Star lets them get away with it because they're fairly tame as thrill gangers go. The Brain Eaters are techies, interested in scavenging the remains of Redmond's technological infrastructure. Their colors are black over white and each gang member wears a distinctive red fez.
===Green 4800===


The Brain Eaters are heavily into smuggling and are the sole group of shadow-deckers operating out of the Redmond Barrens. Their headquarters has Matrix jack-points, computer hardware, and pirated software. Recent indications suggest the Brain Eaters are helping the yakuza expand their syndicate's operations in Redmond, in exchange for wiz new warez that "fell off the back of a truck."
An eco-terrorist group operating out of the Seattle Sprawl.


''The Eaters aren't just computer geeks. Plenty of them will bash your head in with a baseball boat if you insult their stupid hats, or if you look like you have something valuable they might want. They make some cred by selling any cyber on their victims before unloading the body parts on the organ market.'' - Wraith II
==System Identification Numbers (SINs)==


====Organized Crime====
People are identified by many identifiers in many systems, but the System Identification Number is the gold standard. Every SIN is tied to at least a name, a picture, and a fingerprint. While every SIN holder has been fingerprinted, many registrations include retinal scans, limited DNA profiles, and voice samples. Maintained by Global Systems Registries, the SIN is used by most governments and corporations to identify citizens and employees.


While influential in Seattle, the Mafia struggles as power is consolidated under their new leadership, the Bigio Family, and has relatively little day-to-day control of Redmond. Similarly, the Triads, while powerful in Seattle and particularly the Puyallup Barrens, hold relatively little territory in the Redmond Barrens. The Redmond district is, instead, dominated by the yakuza, with significant opposition by the Seoulpa Rings, the Korean crime syndicate created by the pogrom of the yakuza's Korean membership.
GSR provides for the vast majority of identification-check services throughout the system. With even a basic scanner, and a service contact, GSR can identify whether a particular subject's biometrics match a provided SIN. Authorized customizers, such as law enforcement agencies, can retrieve a SIN based on provided biometrics.


The Nishidon-gumi syndicate of the yakuza dominates smuggling operations through Puyallup and Redmond, along with some hijacking and traditional protection rackets. The gumi also runs much of the vice industry in the Barrens, particularly the chip trade, against significant competition from the Mafia and the Triads. While the oldest yakuza clan in Seattle, the yakuza in the Sprawl currently answer to the Shotozumi-rengo, whose leader, Hanzo Shotozumi, is responsible for unifying all the yakuza throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Many older SIN holders have a UV-reactive barcode tattoo on their wrist of their number, with younger citizens often relying solely on [[Equipment#Personal_Electronics|embedded short-range radio transmitters]].
 
Also part of the yakuza, the Shigeda-gumi clan runs operations in the north of the metroplex, including parts of Redmond. The gumi competes with the Ciarniello Family (Mafia) in the gambling business and has considerable influence on smuggling in northern Seattle, as well as a large slice of the vice industry.
 
''The Shigedas have been importing bunraku "flesh-puppet" brothels from San Fransisco, using prostitutes modified with personafix BTL chips to make them into whomever the client wants. The brothels are a huge cash cow, so you can bet the Mafia or some other rival will try to muscle in on the action." - Spook
 
Formed from the remaining Korean members, or their families, after the assassination of the previously-Korean leadership of the Seattle yakuza, the Seoulpa Rings are a small but dedicated opposition to the yakuza. The Komun'go Ring operates in the Redmond district, running smuggling, fencing, protection, and information rackets, frequently trying to horn in on yakuza action, and equally often butting heads with local gangs. The Ring runs a lot of protection rackets near the Salish-Shidhe border, using threats of magical and physical violence to give their "suggestions" weight.
 
====Minor Characters====
 
'''"Stinky" Joe''' is a particularly pungent metahuman, rumored to be infected with a relatively mild variant of the HMMV virus.

Revision as of 19:33, 25 March 2020

Corporation List and Description

http://theshadowrun.proboards.com/thread/346

Ares Macrotechnology

Headquarters: Detroit, UCAS

Core Industries: AresSpace, Ares Global Entertainment, Ares Arms, Knight Errant Security Services, and General Motors

Aztechnology

Headquarters: Tenochtitlan, Aztlan

Core Industries: food, consumer goods, and thaumaturgical products

Cross Applied Technologies

Headquarters: Montreal, Quebec

Core Industries: computers, electronics, multimedia products, biotech

Fuchi

Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan

Core Industries: Matrix technology

Mitsuhama

Headquarters: Kyoto, Japan

Core Industries: computers and robotics

NeoNET

Headquarters: Boston, UCAS

Core Industries: Matrix infrastructure, software, electronics, biotech

Renraku

Headquarters: Chiba, Japan

Core Industries: memory storage and databases

Saeder-Krupp

Headquarters: Essen, Germany

Core Industries: heavy industry, nuclear energy, oil, chemistry, aerospace and telecommunications.

Shiawase

Headquarters: Osaka, Japan

Core Industries: power systems, biotech, environmental technology, business analysis

Wuxing

Headquarters: Hong Kong Free Enterprise Enclave

Core Industries: finance, heavy industry, shipping, automotive, consumer goods and services

Yamatetsu

Headquarters: Kyoto, Japan

Core Industries: Crashcart Medical Services, consumer products, naval technology

Non-Corporate / Non-Government Organizations

Green 4800

An eco-terrorist group operating out of the Seattle Sprawl.

System Identification Numbers (SINs)

People are identified by many identifiers in many systems, but the System Identification Number is the gold standard. Every SIN is tied to at least a name, a picture, and a fingerprint. While every SIN holder has been fingerprinted, many registrations include retinal scans, limited DNA profiles, and voice samples. Maintained by Global Systems Registries, the SIN is used by most governments and corporations to identify citizens and employees.

GSR provides for the vast majority of identification-check services throughout the system. With even a basic scanner, and a service contact, GSR can identify whether a particular subject's biometrics match a provided SIN. Authorized customizers, such as law enforcement agencies, can retrieve a SIN based on provided biometrics.

Many older SIN holders have a UV-reactive barcode tattoo on their wrist of their number, with younger citizens often relying solely on embedded short-range radio transmitters.

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