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Shembus
Archetype: Elf Drug Dealer
While not
quite possessing a complete stranglehold of custom drugs in the city,
Shembus is damn close. To that end he is relentless in his pursuit of
developing new and more powerful narcotics, slowly gaining an edge over
his competitors so he can up-dose them with every new release. The lab
housed in his white, gothic styled compound is well staffed and the
lieutenants that he keeps in his immediate presence are in the top of
their class. Shembus has a very hands on approach to the business,
delivering recently developed substances to everything from high class
balls to frat house parties. He also uses these visits to find out about
any competing substances that may have slipped past him. The only parts
he leaves to others is the dirty work, contracting with gangs and runners,
and is able to raise small armies of paid proxies at a moment’s notice.
While he’s not below simply trying to steal a competitor’s formula, he
usually finds that it’s it easier to simply purchase a sample and reverse
engineer it.
In his
mid-40s, with a charismatic grin, short blonde hair and a goatee,
Shembus’s overall look could best be described as ‘armored pimp’. Every
part of his fuzzy white garb is lined with armor, including the hat, and
he carries a small, stainless steel scepter with functions including smoke
screen, single shot heavy pistol and defensive grenade. Tack on some
dermal enhancements and bone lacing and you end up with a self-absorbed
egomaniac who is very difficult to kill. Fast, however, he is not, having
had his wired removed because they ‘damaged his chill’. Shembus avoids
all drugs, with the major exception of good ole’ natural Mary Jane, which
he also breeds and cultivates but, for some odd reason, never sells.
Gillian
Archetype:
Human Drug Dealer Physical Adept
While Shembus serves as the face of the
operation, Gillian is the brains. Well, along with being able to kick
some ass. Specializing in several forms of martial arts, she has
sacrificed a small portion of her adept power towards the installation of
a cerebral enhancement and enough storage to hold a few dozen knowledge
softs. She has an intricate knowledge of how most drugs effect the mind
and body and is key in developing new strains or mixtures to maximize
effect and, in turn, profit. Gillian has never actually done drugs
herself. With a bubbly personality, athletic figure and braided hair down
to her waist, her hair sometimes holds blades so she can whip it around as
a weapon in combat. When Shembus goes out into public, she is almost
always by his side, trading intel with Fatale and Derelict and acting as a
last line of defense bodyguard.
April
Archetype:
Human Drug Addict
When Shembus
comes across a new drug, it usually falls upon April or Kyle to test it.
They are dragged through horrific cycles of dosing and withdrawal to make
sure they can act as a clean slate to any drug introduced into their
system. Some of the withdrawal is so intense that they actually die,
having been brought back over and over by the team’s doctor.
Looking
remarkably healthy for someone put through the rigors of repeated dosing,
the team doctor always makes sure his subjects are returned to a
relatively healthy state before a new drug is tested.. Shembus broke
April down by initially hooking her on drugs that would enhance mental
attributes that would help with her college studies, slowly introducing
drugs that affected physical attributes as well. Then, without warning,
he took all of them away, teasing April with ineffective tastes of the
drugs she adored. Then he gave them all back again, a cycle he would
repeat a dozen times until April had a sensory memory of just about every
attribute enhancing drug around so she could accurately compare them to
whatever she is being given in the present time. Unfortunately, for
anybody wishing to rescue April from this hell, forget it. Nothing
remains but a succinct vocabulary limited to what may describe a drugged
experience. Marks on her wrists and neck are the only real visible hints
to Shembus’ brutality.
Kyle
Archetype:
Dwarf Drug Addict
If April has
it bad, Kyle has it much, much worse. Due to his enhanced constitution,
Kyle is given the hardest drugs that come along, some of which have
destroyed parts of his body to the point that cultured bioware was
required to replace them. He is also installed with a neuro inhibiter
that prevents him from screaming, and the only outlet he has for
describing what he’s feeling is limited to words and phrases like “brain
fire”, “hell” and “kill me”. Kyle was scraped off the streets when he was
already a hard core addict by a seemly sympathetic Shembus who then put
him through a cycle of addiction and rehabilitation similar to April.
Made to look healthy through bioware and nutrient shots, Kyle exhibits the
same zombie-like state as April. Shembus has even gone so far as to
install special tear dusts that prevent him from crying.
Reanimator
Archetype:
Human Doctor Sorcerer
Named for his
supernatural ability to bring people (usually OD’s) back from the dead,
Reanimator has a second, more sinister, job of dissecting those who have
died from using Shembus’s products to see exactly what went wrong. (Shembus
is smart enough to know that you can’t build a drug empire if your
clientele keep kicking the bucket.) In addition to the numerous health
spells he possesses, Reanimator is also an actually fully trained and
certified doctor several times over. With his combination of magic and
medicine, he can bring back virtually anyone, although, on more than a few
occasions, people have come back “wrong”. This usually happens if the
individuals have been deceased for an hour or more and generally result in
maniacal, uncontrollable, and disturbingly fast animated corpses, which is
why Reanimator always carriers a pair of heavy pistols on him at all times
so he can put them back down. Reanimator also has a side job (which
Shembus allows, so long as he keeps it quiet) of selling spare body parts
that still have some market value. Reanimator is always dressed in slick,
black silk suits, is fairly charismatic and is a great conversationalist
during parties.
Fatale
Archetype:
Elf Bodyguard
For a
bodyguard, Fatale is rarely by Shembus’s side. She prefers to roam
through the party crowds and use her vast array of cybernetic listening,
recording and analysist headwear to find problems before they happen.
Fairly well built and imposing for an elf, Fatale and Gillian often train
together, mixing up their styles and producing some awesome sparring
matches. On the job, Fatale seems to be everywhere at once as she slips
through crowds using paths of least resistance, but keeping a mental map
of the quickest way back to Shembus. If Shembus is meeting with somebody
high risk, Fatale will abandon her wandering and stand near the person
Shembus is meeting, dual SMGs hidden, but ready (or even out and visible
if some intimidation is needed.) With Wired 3 and additional bioware
speed enhancements, Fatale’s ability to seemingly be everywhere at once
isn’t limited to her recon. Fatale has a knack for knowing what to wear
and when, dressing as anyone from a corporate elite to a stoner. Bald,
Fatale will also wear whatever hair she feels is appropriate for the
situation, or sometimes none at all.
Derelict
Archetype:
Human Rigger
While possessing excellent combat
piloting skills, Derelict also has something infinitely more valuable:
Numerous contacts within law enforcement. Through the utilization of
these contacts, there’s hardly a traffic stop or raid that Shembus can’t
get out of. And while the cops may hate Shembus, Derelict’s management of
bribes, blackmail and intimidation keep him out of the path of enforcement
action. The Mitsubishi Nightsky that serves as the group’s primary mode
of transport is a safe haven and it is Derelict’s primary function to make
sure it’s where it is needed. He doesn’t want a rogue (or non-rogue,
depending on how you look at it) cop making his career by snagging Shembus
while he’s vulnerable.
Derelict is somewhat diminutive, but
muscular, and wears his hair cropped short. He cut his teeth rigging for
the feds and held on to many of the contacts he made there. Derelict has
customized the hell out of his Nightysky, equipping it with better armor,
improved handing and a jacked-up engine to compensate for the extra
weight. While this has lowered its overall range, Derelict has a fleet of
other vehicles at his disposal should a mission call for it. |
