recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Pub Culture

## Pub Culture in Fargo-Moorhead

If you read a lot of sociological papers or just spend a lot of time in bars around here (or, like me, you spend a lot of time reading sociological papers in bars around here), the thing that’s going to strike you is how different, and how much the same, the crowds in each of these places are. Over the last fifty years, the Fargo -Moorhead  area (both sides of the river) has seen the rise of something I’m calling ‘Pub Culture’ (it doesn’t actually have a name around here because it’s just How Things Are).

So, having seen each other through the shocks of the Awakening of the Red, the Great Ghost Dance, the North Star Uprising, two wars with the Sioux and everything else that the Red River Valley has had thrown at it, and with a decreasing amount of support from the weakened government that abandoned them and the corporations that exploit them, the people of the Red River Valley have done what Midwesterners always do when the chips are down. They cleave to each other.

Add to this the way that general mobility has decreased in the working population in the last fifty years (a combination of decreasing resources for people, more borders and a legitimately more dangerous world)  and its a perfect recipe for a resurgence in localism. And in the Red River Valley, that means the 'Local ', centers of local communities (such as bars and churches) where people gather to not only drink and/or pray, but also to network, gossip, do business, offer support and organizing. No matter whether you drink, you go the local bar, no matter whether you believe, you have business at the local church. Bringing people together in the neighborhood to help them help each other survive in the main thing.

Even the Shadows are touched by this tendency locally. What passes for 'Gangs ' in the local area are actually more like hooligans and black-marketeers attached to a specific local, working to represent, defend or supply the neighborhood in which they live. And even people who aren't in the local gang tend to support them. Thieves and thugs they may be, but, dammit, they're OUR thieves and thugs, which has never not been important to the kind of people who live in places like this...

Return to: Culture
Ralphs

## The Ralphs

* **Home Base:**The Corner, 21 4th St S, Moorhead, MN 56560
* **Colors/Signs:**Yeah, its not that kind of gang. The point of being a Ralph is that you already know everybody else who is a Ralph, you know? The closest they have is there's this ancient case of first-run Lake Devil beer in the Corner's back room, supposed to have been smuggled into town by Skip Goodboy and traded to old Buddy Underberg for an untracable car back in, like, the 50's, right? Well, Ralphs generally have an initiation that entails drinking a bottle of this old beer (and then getting good and sick on it) and keeping the collector's bottlecap on them somewhere as a token if they need it.
* **Leadership:**For years, Buddy's son Brady  ran drek for the Ralphs, but with Brady having to skip town for awhile, his distant cousin, Jo Myhre seems to have taken over both the Corner and the gang that goes with it.
* **Rackets:**Name it. Petty theft, both burglary and armed robbery, dealing drugs, running prostitutes, gambling, a bit of light counterfeiting, con games, pretty much whatever tides them over until the next round of drinks or payday. The Ralphs are also a fighting gang, causing trouble and busting heads both on their own accord and for the Underbergs, under who's protection they do all this drek.
* **Description:**Working class slobs and professional drunks who hang around the Corner and operate in Moorhead for the Underbergs.
* **Allies:**As an Underberg-led crew, the Ralphs often work with the other Underberg crews, like the Blind Pigs and the Dirty E's across the river in Fargo. The Pigs often call on the Ralphs to provide some extra muscle to their business partners in the Junkyard Dogz. Outside of the Family, their sidelines in petty theft, stolen goods and scavenging bring them into pretty regular contact with the Reddernecks, who think a lot like the Ralphs themselves do. And they do, surprisingly, have a sort of unspoken truce with the SOMA. Its not so much that they have a peace with SOMA  as much as neither side can summon up the energy to maintain a proper beef with each other, so they tend to leave each other alone. The Ralphs also have a pretty solid connection with the Rebels  and some other youth gangs in the area, which isn't surprising when you consider that the kind of guy who ends up as a Ralph is also kind that started early in a life of crime in one of those gangs. Also, a fair number of Ralphs also serve, conveniently for them and for their Underberg masters, on their buildings' Ten Mile.
* **Rivals:**The downside of such a wide-ranging assortment of crime is that it also puts them on the radar of vigilante groups like the Drummers  and The Squad. And on the other side of the law, they are in direct and bloody competition with the Brawlhallans over who gets to rob stores in what parts of town. A couple of guys have died over that already. And a thing with the Saturdayers  that neither group of barflies feels like discussing but is also not getting over anytime soon.

Return to: Gangs
Norse Warrior Club

## The Norse Warriors

* **Purpose:** To provide support and structure for advancement for Fargo-area Adepts
* **Membership:** A small group, the Norse Warriors consist of six members, all Physical Adepts following the Warrior's Way.
* **Headquarters:** The Warriors have no formal headquarters, meeting at the homes of its better-off members on a rotating basis. Generally members will share ritual spaces and resources when those are required.
* **Strictures:** Attendance (1/month), Deed, Exclusive Membership, Fraternity

Founded by a fan of the old Minnesota Vikings, to provide a place for local PhysAds to train and support each other, focusing on the Warrior's Way. The group has adopted Norse trappings and symbols without any real belief (which separates them from the local Asatru and Ascomanni communities), mostly as an homage to the founder's favorite football team (although it could be argued that it takes SOME kind of belief to root for the winningest team to never win a superbowl, even after over a hundred years).

Members are expected to support each other when called upon, and "stay with the team."  They meet once a month to discuss matters of importance, varying from magical concerns, learning, practice, or the boneheaded call the ref made last week.

**Return to: Magic**
TMB

### **Shadowsona: THAT MAGNIFICENT BASTARD**

**Shadowsona Profiles: Supplemental Asset Management Solutions (a Horizon Product)**

**Last Updated 2/26/2076**

* **Identity:**Unavailable: Data Not Found\* (want more? click here to upgrade to Shadowsona Ultimate)
* **Description (Metatype):**Troll (*Homo sapiens ingentis*)
* **Description (Gender):**Male (he/him)
* **Description (Magic):** Adept (Physical)
* **Magical Tradition:** Way of the Warrior
* **Skillset:**Close Combat, Ranged Combat, First Aid, Distraction
* **Affiliation:** None. Has been temporarily associated with many shadowteams, but never on a long-term basis.
* **Area of Operations:**Front Range Free Zone
* **Availability:** High
* **Reliability:** Medium High

**Notes:** ‘TMB’ (known for short) has cultivated a high level of public visibility around his ‘Brand’ that may be an asset or a liability depending on the job. Shows a high-level of proficiency in area of expertise, but is known to cultivate grudges and ‘beefs’ with other runners that make subject difficult to integrate into a team setting for anything more than one-mission situations.

**Return to: Shadowrunners**
Shang Stanton

Knight Errant Security - Records: Persons of Interest [last updated 1.2.76]

* **Name:** Uncertain (Best match is one 'Charles E. Cullan' of Moorhead]
* **Date of Birth:** Unknown (Cullan: 5/13/2039)
* **Place of Birth:** Unknown (Cullan: Moorhead, MN, UCAS)
* **Citizenship:** SINless (Cullan: United Canadian American States)
* **Metatype:** SURGE Subject - Avian Features (Cullan: Human)
* **Sex:** Male
* **Gender:** Rooster
* **Height:** 174 cm
* **Weight:** 86 kg
* **Build:** Muscular
* **Hair/Plumage:** White and Red
* **Eyes:** Black
* **Complexion:** Unknown, hidden by Plumage
* **Occupation:** Silent partner in The Sporting Life bar in Dilworth, MN, Professional Criminal
* **Education:** Unknown
* **Enhancements:** Possible Undocumented SURGE abilities; Also possible bioware enhancements
* **Marital Status:** Single
* **Known Associates:** Brady Underberg (former business partner), Carla Myhre (Possible Employer), John "Blinky Jack" O'Neil (Employee), David Mullen (Probable business Partner), Rip Gizzard (Associate), James "Slim Jim" Shumway (*Deceased* - former business partner), Alexei "Cousin Aloysha" Kirillov (rival)

First confirmed observations of 'Shank Stanton' appear in law enforcement records in Autumn of 2061, when the name was attached to a series of liquor store robberies in the Fargo/Moorhead Area with partner 'Slim Jim' Shumway. First records treat Shank's distinctive look as a rooster mask and it was only during the investigations into Shumway's death in 2064 that his SURGE status was confirmed by KE. Since then, his activities have been associated with the Minnesota branch of the Underberg Crime Family (allegedly headed by sisters Eleanor, Josephine and Carla Myhre). Already wanted for Shumway's death, Stanton is used for all the most brutal and most openly illegal operations of the Underberg associates, including murder, extortion, carjacking, animal fighting rings and metahuman trafficking. To date, no account of Stanton's activities have reported any sign of regret or hesitation from him, no matter how horrendous the action. Has been reported in violent incidents involving Jacks, associates of the Invierno Cartel and, in reports from KE-MSP, the Kirillov crime organization. Stanton is known to frequent the Sporting Life, a drinking establishment in Dilworth just outside KE jurisdiction, a known center for gang activity.

ADVISORY: Shang Stanton is known to be unstable, heavily armed and very dangerous. Knight Errant personnel are advised to NOT ENGAGE with Stanton without calling in for backup first.

**Return to: Underberg Family**
Marcus Finch

* **Name:**Marcus Elias Finch
* **Position:**Chair of the Metroplex Council, Minneapolis-St Paul Metroplex , senior member of the Farmer-Labor Party .
* **Metatype:**Human  (*Homo sapiens sapiens*)
* **DOB:**9/20/2018, St Paul MN

By far the most successful member of the Farmer-Labor Party, a ceaseless activist and organizer, he helped lead the split between the increasingly corrupt Democratic  party and the more progressive and anti-corp Farmer-Labor part of the DFLP.

Finch was elected to the City Council in 2060 and became Chair in 2068. He is considered one of the most prominent liberal members of the Council. He drew attention recently when he voted against authorizing Mayor Bergen  to allow the sale of the Twin Cities Transit Authority to Evo  along with the rest of 4M’s holdings, when he made his now-famous “Not everything should be for sale” quote, which came to symbolize his efforts to return the Twin City’s road system to public ownership.

UCAS Online’s Bruce King has described Finch as “probably the most outspoken liberal” in the Twin Cities. “He is the only vulnerable Council incumbent who regularly votes against corporate  interests,” King said.

Return to: Farmer-Labor
Sons of Moria

## Sons of Moria Lodge #25, Fargo ND

* **Location:**Sons of Moria Lodge, The Block , 4-4 Ground Floor Atrium, Fargo  RRDMZ 58102.
* **Type:**Fraternal Organization

The Sons of Moria are a  is a fraternal organization principally representing people of the Dwarf  metatype (*Homo sapiens pumilionis*) in North America. The organization includes in its mission the promotion and preservation of the interests and community of Dwarves and to provide life insurance and other financial products to its members. The organization was founded by 18  Dwarven members of the on January 16 2038, in Minneapolis to insure each other when they were unable to secure life insurance on their own. The organization is classified as a non-profit 501(c)(8) fraternal beneficiary society.

### Membership

Membership is open to everyone of the Dwarf Metatype and families and (sponsored) friends. Currently, the Sons of Moria has nearly 150 lodges in the UCAS  and Quebec .

### Services

The benefits offered by the Sons of Moria have fluctuated over the years. They originally offered life, sickness and accident insurance but in 2054 restricted coverage to life insurance only. Gradually the other benefits were restored. As well as the formal insurance benefits, the Lodge serves as a social club, it provides a place to stay and a hot meal for traveling Dwarves, holds charity events (like the famous Pancake and Lutefisk  Feeds at Easter and Christmas, which traditionally go to the Widows and Orphans fund) and, maybe most importantly, sponsors all manner of social events (curling leagues, tour groups, continuing education courses, lectures) where Dwarves can network, forming the social bonds that make the Sons so useful to the Dwarven way of life\*. They also fund and sponsor their own dwarf-centric Initiation Group, the Sons of Ivaldi.

* *[So, a thing about Dwarves. As the smallest metatype, the only one smaller than base Humanity, they have to double down on competence to be taken seriously. Which means that they usually end up both technologically and magically savvy. Traits that, along with their steady and willful nature, give them ways to connect over great distances. The contacts list on a dwarf’s commlink is often its largest datafile and full of connections to other dwarfs, many of whom the owner may have only met once. Or they may never have met and just got a name passed to them by a friend. This connectivity brings together nearly three-quarters of all the dwarfs in the world (with approximately a fifth of the missing members being a pumilionis metavarient ). Some of the connections may be negative, such as a note pointing out a dwarf is untrustworthy or has failed to hold to an agreed deal, but through small degrees of separation, —usually less than three, never more than six—a dwarf in the larger group can be connected to another dwarf.]*

Return to: Culture
Roadwork

## Roadwork (The Team)

* **Street Name:**Roadwork
* **Metatype:**Dwarf (*Homo sapiens pumilionis*)
* **Origin:**Fargo
* **Affiliations:**Underberg Family, The Team, sometimes Reddernecks
* **Specialties:**Vehicle Rigger, Tactical Planning

Roadwork started her career in the shadows in the early '60's as first a street racer and then a freelance smuggler for the Underbergs, quickly rising to lead up their whole smuggling operation. In this position she often found herself on the recieving end of Buddy Underberg's famous "Deal With It!" and gathered some local talent (most notably The Thunder and Lady Lightrider ) as 'problem solvers', and reforming The Fargo Team. The Team hadn't existed since the infamous Burnout Run of '59.

Roadwork has a lot going for her, not just her skill plugged into a car, bike or t-bird, but also a keen tactical brain, always moving a step ahead as well as a real eye for talent. She personally plucked Lightrider, then an MSUM grad student in Para-anthropology, out of obscurity and convinced the Family to give the crippled DuWayne Wahlo a second chance as the street samurai "The Thunder". If she has a weakness, its her lack of patience with 'playing nice' or compromise. If you set her at something, its like pulling the trigger on a gun. Its going to go fast, its going to do a lot of damage both on the way in and the way out and once you've done it, there's no taking it back. The Team under her leadership is infamous for completing its mission, no matter what, once its signed the contract. "You hire us, you better be sure, and you better be sure to pay" is her motto.

In what little time she has not smuggling for the Family or running the team, Roadwork can usually be found knocking back beers and reassembling engines with the crew down at the Last Garage , and her influence is one of the things that keeps them safe from the Zone Patrol . While she always stays just this side of confirming it, its an open secret in the Red River Shadows that Roadwork is actually Peyton Underberg, third child of Buddy and Florance  Underberg, which is one of the reasons for her rapid rise to head of the Family's smuggling operations.

*[Edit: On 7/4/75 Roadwork's identity was confirmed when she and her Team were found dead on the banks of the Red River. A private funeral was held by the Family on 7/8/75. Word is that her responsibilities were split between her cousin Hunter , who took over the smuggling operations and her brother Brady , who will be handling a new version of the Team.]*

Return to: The Team
Natalie Dickinson

## Detective Natalie Dickinson

* **Name:**Natalie Irena Dickinson
* **Position:**Field Detective with the Caution Agency
* **Metatype:**Elf  (*Homo sapiens nobilis*)
* **Education:**Harding High School, Class of '55. Ares  Military Security Training.
* **DOB:**7/23/2038, St Paul, MN UCAS
* **DOD:**11/19/2075, 37, Fargo, Region 3 RRDMZ

Being a detective was just the end of a long line of professions that Nat Dickinson had passed through. She'd done time in a failed electropunk band, been a roadie for an early Goblin Rock outfit, done two tours in the military police in the Ares Military fighting the New Revolution, bartender at a seedy roadhouse, a vehicle transporter for Underberg Motors, even a year or two with the Snipe Hunt, or so its said, before applying to the Caution agency in 2068 to get out of of a job slinging hash that she hated.

Since then, she's found her niche. Always a loner and always a little too smart for her own good, she found that she had stumbled into a job where those were assets and not drawbacks for once. Ivan Johnson soon came to consider her his best solo operative. Not great in team situations, but for jobs where just one person was needed, Nat was the best, tough, resourceful, insightful and almost supernaturally persistent. When Nat got her teeth into a case, she never let go until it was truly closed.

Those few who knew her said that being a detective was her whole life. Finding her niche, she put down roots in it. She had very little personal life outside of being a detective and when she wasn't working (and even when she was), she tended to be found at the bar at places like The Basement and The Corner. Her dedication to her chosen career path could be a detriment as well as an asset. In late spring/early summer 2075 she had been on a complicated case up in Winnipeg involving a wealthy family, a missing teenager, a strange AI and secrets from the past nobody wanted dug up. She had solved the case, to her and the client's satisfaction, yes, but she had gotten personally involved and the secrets she'd uncovered led to tragedy and the death of one of the people involved and Johnson had been forced to give her several months off to get her head together.

She was only called back to service for what would turn out to be her last case. The Strand family had hired the Agency to recover the private files of the late Eric Strand, still hidden within the depths of TransForum InfoMedia. True to form, Nat succeeded but at the cost of her own life. Her lifeless corpse, drained of all Essence by a Hoodlum, was still clutching the datastick with the information on it when it dropped the twenty stories from the roof of the Block on the evening of November 19, 2075...

Return to: Caution Agency
Saeder-Krupp

## Saeder-Krupp Industries of Tsêhéstáno

* **Location:**W. 18th St and Carey Ave W., Tsêhéstáno , Tetonway CF, 82001, Očéti Šakówiŋ
* **Subsidiaries:**AN Meridian, Krupp Manufacturing, Krupp Munitions, Onotari Arms, Dresdner Bank, German Treuhand, Lothian-Vaea

Another mainstay of the downtown Tsêhéstáno skyline is the Saeder-Krupp building. Located a few blocks away from the Council Fires Hall , this modern, thirty-two-story octagon-shaped building prominently displays S-K’s logo in the downtown corridor. While other corporations shy away from grabbing too much attention in a country that tends to be very hostile and distrusting toward foreign corporations, S-K is bold in putting their name and logo out there.

Inside Saeder-Krupp’s high-rise are offices for its heavy industry subsidiaries, AN Meridian and Krupp Manufacturing. S-K is currently in full-on recovery mode trying to rebuild after the great dragon civil war and has been pushing hard to grab as many heavy construction project contracts as possible within the Očéti Šakówiŋ. These projects include the new Tsêhéstáno International Airport, which will soon be under construction. In addition to its heavy-industry subsidiaries, S-K is invested in procuring military contracts with the Sioux National Police, competing with the likes of Ares  and Shiawase  for those contracts. Krupp Munitions and Onotari Arms are also present in the Saeder-Krupp building, trying to provide weapons and vehicles for the military as well as providing legal firearms to the local population.

On top of Saeder-Krupp’s weapons and heavy industry interests in the Očéti Šakówiŋ, S-K is heavily invested in the Sioux Nation’s financial sector. Dresdner Bank, German Treuhand, and Lothian-Vaea are all active financial institutions within the Očéti Šakówiŋ and have their main Sioux offices within the Saeder-Krupp high rise. The S-K building also offers luxury apartments and condominiums for wealthy residents of Tsêhéstáno.

Return to: Tsêhéstáno
Minnesota Politics

Posted by: Iab Npauj

You wouldn’t think a quaint little town like Saint Paul would be a hotbed for radicalism, but there’s a lot of political movements just seething under the surface. You can probably find a lot of things if you look, but here are some you should definitely keep in mind.

### Political Parties

* Technocratic Party of Minnesota
* Archconservative Values Alliance
* New Democratic Party of Minnesota
* Reformed Republican Party of Minnesota
* A New Century for Minnesota

### Policlubs

* Humanis Policlub , Great North Chapter
* Farmer-Labor Party
* Non-Partisan League
* The Moravac Club
* Sovereign Citizen Alliance
* Greenroots Party
* Alliance for Shapeshifter Citizenship

### Radicals

* Knights of the Red Branch
* Anti-Corp Radicals
* North Star Republic
* People's Builder's Union
* The Mother's Sons

### Non-governmental Organizations

* Draco Foundation
* Magical Futures Foundation

### 2076 Electoral Cycle

* National
* State
* Metroplex

Return to: Wirefrog's Guide to the MSPlex.
Lady Dhulaine

**Lady Dhulaine** is a character introduced in season 2 of *The Wheel of Time* television series.

Lady Dhulaine is a Cairhienin lady who attends a party visited by Rand and Selene.

## History

### Early life

Lady Dhulaine was presumably born into House Dhulaine in the nation of Cairhien, possibly born and raised in the City of Cairhien.

### Season 2

Lady Dhulaine attends a high class party, which is also attended by Lady Anvaere Damodred, and is crashed by Rand al'Thor and Selene. Lady Dhulaine is among the partygoers who are curious about Rand and Selene, and she extends an invitation to them both to dine with her next week. Selene gives the invitation to Rand and smiles at Lady Dhulaine, who smiles in return and raises her glass to them. Selene says that the other partygoers are trying to figure out if she and Rand are outland nobles that they can use against each other.

When Selene steps away, Lady Anvaere joins Rand and tells him to be careful about an invitation from Lady Dhulaine, since answering either yes or no will have consequences. Rand says he'll give neither answer and drops the invitation into the fire, which amuses Anvaere.

## Physical appearance

Lady Dhulaine is an adult woman of short stature with fair skin and dark brown hair. At the party, she wears an elegant white dress and has her hair styled up.

## Appearances

Lady Dhulaine appears in the following episodes:

## Quotes

> **Rand**People are staring. They know we weren't at that dinner.**Selene**Of course, but it only makes them more curious. Look at this. Lady Dhulaine has invited us to dine with her next week. They're trying to figure out if we're outland nobles they can use against each other.— Season 2 episode 3 *What Might Be*

> **Anvaere**Be careful of an invitation from Lady Dhulaine. However you reply, there will be costs attached. Hmm. So, what will it be? Yes or no?**Rand**Neither.**Anvaere**Well, now you'll really have the Houses talking.— Season 2 episode 3 *What Might Be*

## Changes from the book series

Lady Dhulaine is possibly an adaptation of the Arilyn Dhulaine  (*book spoilers!*), or else she is just another member of House Dhulaine  (*book spoilers!*), from the book series.

## Navigation

Padan Fain •
Liandrin Guirale •
Alanna Mosvani •
Logain Ablar •
Maksim •
Ihvon •
Min Farshaw •
Loial •
Siuan Sanche •
Leane Sharif •
Ishamael •
Verin Mathwin •
Selene •
Anvaere Damodred •
Dain Bornhald •
Aviendha •
Gitara Moroso •
Moghedien •
Season 1 characters •
Season 2 characters •
***see all***

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *The Wheel of Time*, season 2 episode 3: *What Might Be*.
Nelson Klein

## Nelson Klein, Public Enemy Number One

* **Name:**Nelson Anthony Klein
* **Position:**Wanted criminal and terrorist (formerly Comptroller for Goldmark-Craig-Shlossman)
* **Metatype:**Human (*Homo sapiens sapiens*)
* **Education:**Masters in Finance from South Dakota State University.
* **DOB:**2/2/2035, Brooklyn Park, Minneapolis, MN, UCAS.
* **Family:** Miranda Stottsman (wife, Fargo RRDMZ), Angela Klein (daughter, Fargo RRDMZ).

Nelson Klein did not start out as anything exciting. The Chief Comptroller of GCS, he answered directly to Kendra Westby, the Sr VP for Finance and worked out of GCS' Block Central offices. He took point on GCS' internal auditing team assigned to assist Corporate Court auditor Huang Hui Yin.

All that changed as of 8/5/75, when Nelson Klein was the 'victim' of a daring daylight kidnapping at the funeral of the Old Man at Last Lutheran Church, a very public debut by the new Shadowteam in town.

### Post-Kidnapping Career

Despite the fact that his kidnapping was the impetus for the formation of JointSec, evidence uncovered during the following investigation later brought to light that Nelson had been embezzling on a grand scale for years during his time at GCS (so much so that the local business community has started using the term 'Nelsoning' to refer to theft and betrayal). Because of this, a lot of people have assumed that he hired the Team to grab him before his crimes came to light, making it an 'extraction' instead of a 'kidnapping'.

Which would have been noteworthy enough, IF evidence hadn't been found at the site of the failed payroll heist that happened at Foxtrot Uniform on the Great Plains Campus during the most recent manastorm that Nelson Klein, thought long gone, had been behind it all, ending in the death of FU's CEO Ramon Torres.

After this, Nelson Klein has become a bit infamous, apparently withdrawing some of his embezzled funds from the National Bank of Havana in the Carib the morning after the heist, then going on to gather a second crew, this time of Carib cyberpirates and Zobop gangers to pull off a massive swindle in the Cayman Islands that defrauded three different extraterritorial banks before escaping from both Carib and CAS authorities in a move bolder than you usually expect from a corrupt, white-collar criminal. During his crime spree, he was reported dead several times, but each time turned up somewhere completely different after.

Nelson Klein returned to Fargo in a big way during the events leading up to the Solstice Blackout, taking credit for the terrorist attack on the Harwood Securitract that claimed the life of KUD Chief Astral Officer Hector Belasco. This has led authorities to publicly finger Klein as the mind behind the Blackout itself, and a manhunt in two nations has begun to capture this Enemy of the People.

Klein, as always, seems to have vanished completely, two steps ahead or never there at all...

Return to: Underworld
The Grove

Some places aren't really places anymore. Up in north Fargo, there's a place that used to be a place. Oak Grove School was a private Lutheran  K-12 school that ran for over a hundred years at 124 North Terrace before the Awakening ended all of that.

Always suseptable to flooding, and one of the first targets when the Red River overran Her banks, it was one of the first places drowned when the River made its final push during the Awakening and the angry waters have held the site ever since, forcing the school to relocate down to south Fargo and well away from its original location.

Local folklore has embraced the site, claiming it as a place that's especially cursed, sacred to both the Riverwalkers  and Riverlings. Whether there's any truth to any of those rumors is something known only to the River, Her followers and Her children...

Return to: The Red River
MidGuard

## MidGuard InfoSecurity Strategies

* **Location:** 4550 42nd Ave S, Fargo , RRDMZ , 58104. On the grounds of the Great Plains Common Campus .
* **Rating:**D (local)
* **CEO:**Yolanda Diaz
* **Status:**An employee owned company, all management-level positions are part of MidGuard Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). MidGuard has an exclusive contract to provide third-party data-transfer and authentication services to AAA partner NeoNET .
* **Business:**MidGuard provides data-transfer authentification and provenance verification services for Class C1 through F9 transfers and transactions for the NeoNET corporation's Great Plains Campus operations.
* **History:**Yolanda Diaz was a hot-shot coder hired straight out of college by the newly-formed Novatech  company and served with honor (Employee of the Month, Golden Smiley Face of Exemplary Company Service) as a Pre-emptive Security Outreach Specialist  (ie. combat decker) in the battles for the assets of the recently-dissolved Fuchi Industrial Electronics. She quit her position with Pre-emptive Security after the Second Crash in '64 and went into consulting, working almost exclusively with Novatech's successor NeoNET. In 2067 she formed Mid-North Guardian Projects (rebranded in 2070 as 'MidGuard InfoSecurity Strategies' to reflect a focus on data security) and opened offices leased from NeoNET on the Great Plains Campus.

Return to: Great Plains Common Campus

Return to: Business
Mote

* **Name:** Ira Mendel Pritzker
* **Position:** Member of the Ancients chapter in Chicago, Southside
* **Metatype:** Elioud (Homo sapiens nobilis)
* **Magical Tradition:** *Mes ti’Cirolletishsa* “The Path of the Bard” (Mystic Adept)
* **DOB:** 9/6/2054 Skokie, Chicago IL, UCAS
* **Family:** Saul Pritzker (father, deceased), Rhoda [Eisenberg] Pritzker ‘*Raewynn Treefriend*’ (mother, deceased), Roberta ‘Bobbie’ Pritzker ‘*Beleriand Moondream*’ (Arviat, disputed territory, Niswi-mishkodewinan)

At only 21, the Mystic Adept known as ‘Mote’ to his gangmates, has already had quite a life. But, hey, Chicago will do that to a guy.

Ira was born as close as you can get to being a native of ‘Bug City’, being less than a year old when the Bug Spirits invaded Chicago. He doesn’t even really remember his mother, Rhoda, who took his older sister Bobbie and ran up north to the Manitou Council to join some college friends of hers when the drek broke loose. Ira was kept in Chicago by his father, Saul, who refused to flee the family home. Or as his dad used to tell him ‘Our family has been elves for forty years, son, but we’ve been in Chicago for a hundred and fifty, we ain’t going anywhere’.

Saul Pritzker was a resourceful guy for a former English teacher and he did what he had to keep himself and his kid alive, moving them over towards Lincoln Park to take refuge with their fellow elves. He even tried to find mentors for Ira when the kid started to show signs of magic. And maybe he would have succeeded had he lived. However, when Saul was killed in the gang battles of ‘68, while trying to scavenge food, Ira was left to figure it out on his own at age 13. Using the patchwork of books and half-understood ramblings by elven nationalist gangers to try and master his own powers, he gathered a group of other lost kids, who looked to his half-controlled magic for protection.

This group of kids became the Goodfellows gang, who roamed the streets between Ancients and Horde turf from ‘69 to ‘71 with ‘Mote’ (how Ira called himself, he named the members of his crew after the fairies in Midsummer Night's Dream, staking out his own rhetorical territory in the often-confused patchwork of elven street culture) at their head.

In ‘71, the Goodfellows got ambitious and tried to get in on the burgeoning TEMPO trade, which, unfortunately, put them squarely in the path of the Ancients. Honestly, it wasn’t even a fight. The Ancients told them they were taking over and then took over. Those with talent, like Mote, were brought into the Ancients and assigned to squads well away from their home turf.

In Mote’s case, the Ancients sent him down south to apprentice with their street mage Eöl, who taught him how to control his adept powers and taught him the Path of the Wheel. As an Ancient, Mote has become Eöl’s apprentice and right hand, which makes him the right hand to the right hand to the Lieutenant in charge of Ancients operations in the Southside, Chele.

Return to: Chele
Tariaksuq

## Tariaksuq, the Shadow-People of the North

* **Classification:**Tariaksuq or "Shadow-People" are difficult to classify. They appear to maintain both a constant, material form but also the ability to withdraw to the Astral Plane. This has led to much debate about whether they are are spirits caught in permanent Manifestation or Dual-Natured creatures with an extraordinary connection to the Astral.
* **Description:**While their abilities at magical concealment make them difficult to observe, those few corpses that have been investigated have the form of a massive humanoid, carnivorous metahuman-caribou hybrid.
* **Abilities:**Their unique relationship to the Astral Plane means that Tariaksuq can conceal their presence from physical detection while still partially manifesting enough to physically effect the material world. They also possess the ability to use magic to enhance their physical forms' strength and durability, not dissimilar to an Adept's.
* **Behavior:**Tariaksuq are believed to exist in villages built on the Astral Plane, generally living by hunting and gathering. They are not normally aggressive but are fiercely territorial, claiming any creature, including metahumans, or spirit as their prey. The only times they stray from their distant territories is during the most terrible Mana Blizzards or in the company of the Ijirait. The Tariaksuq have a unique relationship with the Ijirait, and have been observed working in concert with them and even following the commands of a powerful Ijiraq.
* **Range:**The settlements of the Tariaksuq are located in the Astral Space of the most distant, remote and unsettled parts of the Arctic where it overlaps with North America, largely in the Inuit Nunangat Tariaksuq have been observed south of their normal range, but only in the greatest cold or during the most severe Manablizzards.

Return to: Mana Storms
White Feathers

## White Feather Society (ESSI)

* **Purpose:**The White Feather Society is the dedicated initiation society for Eagle Security Services Inc. training up Shamans for assisting in Eagle Security's security work. Protecting and Serving.
* **Membership:**The White Feather Society is open to all Awakened employees of ESSI. It has initiation paths for both Adepts (Way of the Warrior) and full Shamans. The Wičháša Wakȟáŋ of the White Feather Society is also the CMO (Chief Magical Officer) of ESSI.
* **Strictures:**Material Link (Group), Obedience, Service, Fraternity, Exclusive Membership, Attendance, Limited Membership (Employees)
* **Resources:**High. ESSI is the third largest security company in North America and employs more shamans than any other security corp in North Am and they fund their shamans appropriately.
* **Relations:**The WFS is a part of ESSI and has the same relationships as ESSI, with rivalries with Lone Star and Knight Errant. They also have solid relations, and a fair bit of overlap, with the various magically-active Akicita Societies within the SDF.

Return to: Magic
Minneapolis Hotspots

Those on this network with a technological bent might be interested in a few places in particular
in town. I’ll start off with my two favorites, and you can add from there.

* 404
* World on Wheels

### Astral Hotspots

posted by: Red Hawk
A city this close to the wilderness is going to have plenty of astral action, so I’ll just list some of the more important Awakened sites in the Cities. A lot of them are of Native origin, which is I guess why I got asked to do this section instead of, say, an actual magician! PKK, how come you’re not writing this?

*Everyone likes you better, omae. Besides, I have places to be, people to powerbolt. I’m sure you grep.*
-Phim Kooj Koi

* Minnehaha Park
* Indian Mounds Park
* Camp Coldwater Spring
* Little Earth Housing Project
* Kev Siv Yis Academy
* Siiddastallen
* Theosophical Society
* The Magic Hat
* Peristil Mizilipin
* Mai Nhia's

### Nightspots

Posted by: Wired Rose
I don’t know why paragraph format is the rage all of a sudden. I’m just going to give you a list of my favorite clubs and party spots in the Cities, and if you’ve got any questions about areas or clubs, just add ’em to the thread.

* First Avenue
* Five by Five
* Station Four
* The Aurora
* Wabasha Caves
* Temple of The Drowned Cat
* Noj 30
* Tic-Tac Club
* New Deja Vu Club
* Je Ne Sais Quoi
* Laughing Gnome
* Otto's Chemical Lounge

**Subcategory: Dive Bars**

Return to: Wirefrog's Guide to the MSPlex.
Minneapolis Combination

## The Minneapolis Combination

Posted by: Wired Rose

When you think of the Twin Cities underworld, first and foremost you should think of the Mafia . They’ve always had a lot of power in these parts, even going back to before the Awakening . Rather than toss them off their perch, the last sixty years have only made them that much stronger. The capo di capi Don Catarone ’s been around to see most of it; he’s really getting up there in years, but so far he still seems to be in control.

*The trips to Europe for Leonization  treatments probably help.*
- Nectarine

*That’s entirely secondary. Man’s just too damn siab phem to die.*
- Wirefrog

The Mob has adapted extremely well to the Sixth World here in the MSP metroplex . Their response to the Awakening was to bring the East Side’s Hmong gangs into the fold, along with Hmong shamans, and used that Awakened edge to smash what competition there was. They’d used similar tactics of assimilation before, by integrating the Irish crime families in olden times, so by now there are three major families under the Don’s control, only one  of which is Italian in origin. Also, gender and metatype have long since ceased to be an issue with recruiters, so overall, it’s a very diverse outfit. Keep that in mind before you cack any slots on the street around here; just because they don’t look and sound like they came from an old flatvid (have any of you kids seen the old Godfather films from the last century? It’s really worth your while) doesn’t mean they’re not made. And around here, fucking with made men can cut your career painfully short.

Don Leo's long and stable reign has allowed him to put into place peace-keeping measures like reinstating the 'O'Connor System'; by which those with criminal SINs, open warrants or otherwise on the run, can live openly in Saint Paul under police and Family protection as long as they play by the rules (called the "Three Commandments" by some members of the Families)

* Register name, SIN (if any), commcode and address with the Combination
* Pay the appropriate bribes to the SPPD (as determined by how much trouble they think you'll be)
* Do not, and this bears repeating, Do NOT commit crimes on the Combination's core Territories, ESPECIALLY the East Side of St.Paul. That's a pretty good idea under any circumstances, but if you're under the System, the Don considers that an abuse of his hospitality and the Don takes the rules of hospitality very, very seriously.

### The Families

* Catarone Family
* Callahan Family
* Vang Family

Return to: Minneapolis Underworld
Yoshida Syndrome

Yoshida Syndrome (or more formally Type II MICS-M, Magically Induced Carbon-Silicon Migration) is a magical condition by which a metahuman's flesh begins to metamorphose into a silicon-based stone-like tissues, which often act in ways analogous to the tissues being replaced. All reported cases have been in the last fifteen years or so.

Named for best known case, that of EVO  board member Hideo Yoshida.

* **Nature:**The precise nature of Yoshida Syndrome is as of yet undetermined. Given the timing and effects of YS, most authorities have treated it as a form of SURGE  effect (with a small, but vocal, minority classifying it specifically as an ARDENT, or regionally-based SURGE, see 'Vectors' for more discussion). However this is not a universally-held view and other hypotheses, including it being a form of magical virus or even a possession effect by unknown entities, have been put forward.
* **Vector:**The subject of whether or not MICS-M is spreadable is a controversial one in medical and magical circles. There is vigorous debate as to whether the clustering of YS cases in specific, usually mountainous, areas (esp. the Hida Mountains of Japan, the Andes Mountains of South America, the Ural Mountains of Russia and the Atlas Mountains of northern Africa) is an effect related to the grouping of ARDENT SURGE cases or if they represent the spread of an infection, limited by the remoteness of the locals. The examples of known YS cases do not help in this regard, with Hideo Yoshida himself reporting that he had been praying at a shrine in the Hida Mountains when the change started to come over him.
* **Symptoms:**The most notable trait of YS subjects is, of course, the slow, but progressive change of their flesh into a stone-like substance, which serves to keep them alive. This transformation seems to slow metabolism and increase the mass of the subject, usually proportionally, although not always symmetrically. There has also been reports of cognitive and behavioral changes in some subjects, such as slowing of mental and nervous processes and a reluctance to leave specific locales, but these are by no means constant (there has, for instance, been no observed differences in behavior or cognition for Mr. Yoshida himself).
* **Variants:**"Yoshida's Syndrome" refers specifically to Type II MICS-M, in which the subject is still able to move and function, if not normally, within the bounds of metahuman activity. Type I MICS-M, often referred to as 'Medusa's Syndrome', represents the cases in which the stone-like tissue serves to maintain life processes but does not allow for movement or mobility. Medusa's Syndrome is considered a serious medical condition and some doctors have questioned its relationship to Type II. There is, at this time, no treatment known to MICS-M category conditions.

Return to: Magic
Phim Kooj Koi

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*Woo! Sexay tus tub [wild applause]*
-Iab Npauj

*Don’t be obvious, hluas nkauj, you don’t have to say whatever can see for themselves.*
-Phim Kooj Koi

Real Name: [Withheld by Request\*]
\*Contract no. 9769763728 (Mutual confidentiality Clause)

*Ah, C’mon, you ain’t gonna tell us he’s really called ‘Philbert’ or something, are you?*
-Tsov Tom

*Hey, txiag pim, you npua lwj*
-Phim Kooj Koi

*dlaab ntaus pim loj!*
-Tsov Tom

*Enough! Take it to the street, nobody here cares which of you has more to compensate for! I swear, such a pair of cov me nyuam…*
-Iab Npauj

Classification: Magically Active: Full Spectrum: Shamanic Tradition (txiv neeb)

Availability: Limited, full time employer.

Limitations: Allegiance, will not take runs against. (Minneapolis Combination : ‘Vang Family’)

Notes: Phim Kooj Koi is an example of a ’professional’s professional’, one of the top men in one of the top non-corporate magical combat teams in the country. While not as large or well known as some other non-corporate teams, the Vang family’s teams, trained specially at their own facility (see:Kev Siv Yis Academy), are, mage-for-mage, considered one of the most well-equipped, best trained and most cohesive combat teams in the Mafia, strengthened by a strong group identity, espirit de corps and community support (the Minneapolis Combine is heavily invested in many of the communities in their core territories of the MSPlex). A second-generation txiv neeb for the Vangs, Phim Kooj Koi has begun to advance in his profession in recent years and is regularly given independent field command of magical operations for the Family, leading the unit known colloquially as the ‘Umbrellas’.

*Umbrellas? Really? And we’re supposed to be afraid of these guys? Lame!*
-True That

*Part of me thinks that you aren’t gonna have a lifespan long enough it’s worth explaining, but who knows. You might get lucky. Back in the day, Hmong gangers used to bring umbrellas and other sharpened implements to places where they were searching for weapons. So, if it helps you, feel free to read ‘Hidden Knives’ where it says Umbrellas. Not that I think it will help you…*
-Tsov Tom

This has reduced his availability for regular hire in two ways. First, it takes up more of his available time, reducing the chances he will be available for hire at any given time. Second, as management within the Vangs (a ‘caporegime’ in Mafia parlance) means that he has access to much more complete information about Mafia operations, thus, if an operation even indirectly impacts the Family’s interests in a negative way, he will not take the work.

*“…if an operation even indirectly impacts the Family’s interests in a negative way, he will not take the work.” Any tus me nyuam nrog rau lub qhov muag knows that’s just good ua lag luam in the cities anyway. Better safe than tuag.*
-Ginebig

*Scan that ^ ? That right there is someone who means to make it to get old in the shadows. Pay attention, kids.*
-Phim Kooj Koi

Return to: Minneapolis Combination
Republican

## Reformed Republican Party of Minnesota

   **Motto:**“Rebuild America”

The Reformed Republican Party is the Minnesota branch of the UCAS Republican Party. Despite a spike in popularity after the Great Ghost Dance , the party has waned in influence with the rise of the Technocrats , although still in control of Moorhead  and the western part of the state. Their headquarters is in Saint Paul , chair is Tyler Ortega.

Neither of the old US parties survived the Awakening and the creation of the UCAS entirely intact and with the defection of both the fiscal conservatives to the Technocrats and the Christian Right to the Archconservatives , the Republicans have had to redefine themselves as the party of American nationalism and government power, ranging from those who want to defend what the UCAS still has to the extreme fringe that wants to reclaim the continent and yoke the megacorps. All of their major presidential candidates, including the current President of the UCAS, General Angela Colloton , have been former military officers.

### Prominent Minnesota Republicans

* Shane Hunter, Senator for Minnesota
* Lucas Peterson, State Representative from Moorhead

*Clinging to dreams of the past, when the U.S. was a superpower. Their Justinian beliefs risk war and financial ruin for the UCAS. Well, more of a financial ruin than we’re currently in.*
-Ginebig

*It’s small-minded little accountants and number-crunchers like you that are the reason we’re in this mess in the first place. If the old USA hadn’t sold its soul to the corps, and I’m talking actual essence loss here, they wouldn’t have been so vulnerable to the pagan native rites that brought us low, because there is a spiritual power, Force, in the ideas of the Monroe Doctrine and the collective spirit of [Comments archived for length]*
-Red, White and Ork

*The hell? There a full moon out tonight or something?*
-Red Hawk

Return to: Minnesota Politics