Metaplot:Angry Knights

The Ork Underground has become a haven in its own right for the Orks and Trolls of Seattle, and many Dwarves have also been joining them there. Because so many of them are cast away, the Ork Underground has created its own economy, where members of the OU create and sell their goods and services to other persons in the OU and tourists. The Skraacha kept watch at the beginning, but, eventually, Knight Errant was also invited to start working with the Skraacha to ensure the safety of non-OU citizens. KE and Skraacha have worked well together historically, working towards the common goal of ensuring that the OU remains safe.

In fact, this success story is such that the Metroplex of Seattle is considering incorporating the Ork Underground as a new, official district, allowing it to receive funding for infastructure (as well as pay taxes, but, hey, infastructure pay has to come from somewhere). Citizens are generally split on this decision, but no one can deny that having some support will be nice.

Of course, there are those that don't want this to happen. And they will stop at little to nothing to accomplish their goals.

## Factions

### The Second Hand

The Second Hand is a terrorist branch of Humanis. Currently, they are funded through the Churel Group, a shell foundation that helps pregnant women who cannot provide for themselves due to medical or other issues. While Churel actually does do this, the variable nature of their outgoing funds makes it very easy to filter money into the less-savory parts of Humanis.

The Second Hand is the brainchild of Jeff Duffy, current leader of this group. He takes the name from the original terrorist organization Hand of Five, which has been all but eliminated. The idea being that while someone is watching for one hand, the second is making its move.

Ultimately, Duffy wants to recreate the Night of Rage, where metahumans were moved into warehouses 'for their own protection'. These warehouses then became major targets for anti-metahuman groups, including Hand of Five, to firebomb or shoot up, creating the worst incidence of metahuman massacre in recorded history. Duffy hopes to top that.

#### Important Members

**Jeff Duffy**: Leader of the group. He's charismatic, and borderline a cult leader. His followers have been hand-selected to be some of the most bigoted metaracists around, and who love the idea of Duffy's plan. He currently works for Horizon as a mid-level manager in the accounting department. He should be treated as a social adept rolling at least 18-21 dice on anything social. He's also savvy to various techniques used for social maneuvering, such as the use of pheremones, so generally has a method to counter, even if it's just a large table.

**The blog**: Started about 2 years ago, Duffy claims to be Brug Aronson, an Ork living in the OU. Much of the blog revolves around talking about how KE is causing trouble in the OU, but has other articles, things like how to make DIY supplies from underground available items, from clothing to bombs, everyday reports about the OU, an article leading up to Ida Miki’s speech in which he points out Miki’s obvious anti-metahuman beginnings, and says he’s certainly only posing, but he can’t figure out why.

**Kate Sawyer**: Kate is the wife of the, now, KE Captain of the OU and a former special ops with the UCAS military, although that part of her past is redacted. She works as a receptionist during weekday days at the precinct. She is the one who has advised her husband to take a gentler hand with the OU in his new position, as she is attempting to build trust as they move closer to the end game. She is a capable face (rolling 12-15 dice) but where she is truly terrifying is her ability with a handgun (Treat her as a strive-shooter mundane with 18-21 dice in pistols).

**Eddie Shephard**: A focused awakened spellslinger. He used to work as a beat cop in the OU, using a physical mask and a few other various spells to pretend to be an ork, hoping to set the OU at ease. He is naturally tall and quite strong, which made this easier, but it's still a role. As such, he's become quite adept at impersonating an ork and at various methods of masking his magic and appearance. He was arrested during the events of **Trust Issues** and has yet to reveal any further information about Duffy or his plans.

**Ida Miki**: A semi-former Yakuza, Miki has managed to get into politics (through a lot of corruption) and currently sits as a councilmember of the Downtown City Council. His early career was a lot of anti-metahuman propaganda, but he soon mellowed out, and, more recently, has come out in support of metahumans and the Ork Underground. He joined Duffy's organization about a year ago and has followed Duffy's orders without question. In the events of **Metaracism is Dead**, he is shot and spends weeks in recovery. Since coming out, he has been against the Ork Underground, citing his being shot as proof that he was right to begin with.

#### Goals

* Promote Anti-Metahuman Propaganda
* Recreate the Night of Rage in the Ork Underground

### Knight Errant: OU

#### Important Members

**Greg Sawyer**: Greg is the newest captain after the death of the former Captain, Garret Cole. Greg has taken a reconciliatory approach with the Ork Underground, and things have begun to improve a bit. Greg is married to Kate, and trusts her implicitly.

**Dakota Maestra**: (Current Contact on the Market) Dakota is a lieutenant who is just, in general, a decent person. She genuinely wants to help people, which means she will never make it past her current position, because she doesn't play the politics and numbers game as well as others. She is the kind of person that would rather solve a case than save a dollar. Because she's good at what she does, KE allows her some leeway in not just blaming the next trog she sees. Which is why she was placed in the OU where she could really solve crimes without blaming random trogs.

#### Goals

* Reconcile with the Ork Underground
* Keep the Peace

### Skraacha

The Skraacha started as just another ork gang. When the OU came into existence, they offered their protection. And, as the OU grew, so did they. Ork, troll and dwarf runners that retired found this to be an easy job that still paid decent, so their ranks are filled with as many former runners as not. Their main source of income is the Shadow Bank. The Shadow Bank is simply a great way for other gangs, syndicates, and corporations to keep things hidden for a time. Stored inside the maze-like network of tunnels that only the Skraacha really, fully understand, these are simply lost treasures until they are 'withdrawn' by their owners, being retrieved by the Skraacha. Anyone wandering the tunnels the Skraacha use are likely to run into numerous booby traps, false leads, surveillance gear, etc. as the Skraacha guard their income source jealously.

#### Important Members

**Freight**: (Current Market Contact) Freight is a former runner and a current market lieutenant. He doesn't take shit. Freight genuinely cares about the OU and will put its interest above his own when needed, but is always interested in advancing his own position. He still makes the occasional easy Run, but is, more or less, retired. He is one of the major points of contact between KE and the Skraacha. However, even he is having trust issues with everything going on and has even stopped getting drinks with Dakota as of late.

#### Goals

* Protect the OU
* Protect the Shadowbank
* Get paid

### The Ork Underground

The Ork Underground is made out of Underground Seattle (this is a real place). When a fire swept the town, survivors decided it would be too much effort to tear down and rebuild everything, so, they instead built *on top* of the old city, creating a network of tunnels ranging from about 3 to 9 meters in height. The Underground is made up of old, destroyed first-stories of buildings, tunnels, sewer systems, natural caves, and many more things. It is almost maze-like, making it difficult to navigate for anyone not a native, and even then natives mostly only know their section of it.

There are 9 known entrances to the OU from aboveground. The most prominent are the Sears building, and the Big Rhino. Both of these let down into what is known as the Tourist Highway. The Big Rhino itself leads down to the Goblin Bazaar, where any number of the Ork Underground's hand manufactured goods can be purchased, along with the occasional... 'other' items, let's call it. Along with various restaraunts, bars, and even occasional hotels, the Tourist Highway is a big draw for "Topsiders". Topsiders in this area still face OU prejudice, but they are at least tolerated, as their income is important to the OU.

OU residents are inherently distrustful of "Topsiders". Any elf or human that attempts social maneuvering with a member of the OU is at -2. This is on top of any prejudice the OU resident might have against the person. Treat any topsider, including dwarves, orks and trolls, as being at least Suspicious on the Social Modifiers table.

#### Important Members

**Train**: Train is the owner of Ozone, an alcohol vape bar in the Tourist Highway. While he was merely a business owner not long ago, his aid in protecting community members during the riots and subsequent help in rebuilding has catapulted him in the eyes of much of the community, especially in and around the Tourist Highway. He honestly would have bankrupted long ago, except that his bar has been subsidized by the Skraacha who have, more recently, been using it as a gathering place to make plans, meet with important clients, etc.

**Simon "Sims" Barker**: A former Ranger, Sims tried running for a few months before he decided it wasn't for him. He started working for Train at Ozone, preferring this simple life as a bouncer.

## Runs

### Trust Issues

There is a bomb in the OU! There were two bombs, but only one was placed. This bomb was smuggled in and placed by Eddie Shephard, a focused awakened spellslinger of some talent, a KE beat cop, and a member of The Second Hand. This plan was carefully orchestrated by Duffy, however, Shephard failed to place the second bomb before the time frame and the warning of the bomb was given by Duffy. The bomb was discovered by runners and disarmed. After this happened, Duffy knew he needed to have an explosion still, so he told Shephard to take the bomb into the bazaar and detonate it himself. Shephard didn't want to at first, but was eventually convinced. However, at the moment of detonation, he hesitated, and that hesitation allowed runners to prevent the bomb from going off and securing Shephard who was arrested by KE. See News "No Bombing in the OU".

### Metaracism is Dead

Duffy wanted public opinion of KE to deteriorate. For this purpose, he hired runners to fail an assassination attempt on Ida Miki. Miki, who was simply told that giving a speech in the OU was important to Duffy's plan, had scheduled the speech some weeks prior. Duffy wanted runners to have as little time to research as possible, so hired them merely hours before the speech. With some suave talking, he got an idea of the basic plan and went to see the weapon that would be used. This allowed him to secure another of the same model, throwing a large amount of resources into locating it quickly. Ida Miki was shot by Khenmantieu who was seen by several Skraacha, although masked. Behind the scenes, after the failed attempt, Miki had Kate Sawyer replace the ballistics report with a fake, then hired a team or runners (not Market Runners) to place the weapon in Simon Barker's house. An anonymous tip from Duffy led them to find the weapon which matched the new ballistics profile, leading to Sims being arrested. This mismatch between KE and Skraacha information led to high tension and protests. See News "Councilman Ida Miki Shot", "Simon Barker Arrested" and "Protests in the OU"

### Assassination of Detective

Someone wants KE's detectives to fail. To this end, and to ensure the failure is permanent, they hire runners to break into the KE emergency station that has been set up in the OU and kill the detective (though ask that it gets made to look like an accident). As they descend into the OU, they find a tense situation outside of the station, with a protest in full swing, and anarchists in the crowd who have clear violent intention. With makeshift explosives being thrown, and the station distracted dealing with a riot, Frank sneaks in, and sniffs out the tired detective. Getting clear and regrouping with the team, they decide that an explosion made to look like a gas leak is the solution they're looking for. Several pounds of explosives in the armoury later, the detective shuffles off these mortal coils alongside several other members of staff.

### Angry Knights

Simon Barker was being held for interrogation, but after the bomb went off, he managed to escape. He liquidated everything he had and called in former runner allies to help him. Using his liquidated assets, he hired runners to find out who framed him and why. They eventually tracked down the name Jim Duffy, and his apartment. The runners did not investigate the apartment, instead turning it over to Barker. Barker and his decker friend investigated the apartment, falling prey to an explosive booby trap which killed the decker and hurt Barker. The only thing in the apartment was the commlink that had been used for much of the planning. Duffy had abandoned this location. See News "Explosion in Downtown Seattle"

### Making Things Worse

Duffy needs someone he controls in charge. He wants to recreate the Night of Rage, which requires enough trust that he can push a large number of the OU residents into buildings that he can bomb or otherwise shoot like sardines in a can. This means that the current OU captain, Garret Cole, while his actions are justified, according to Duffy (Stop and Frisk, allowed to stop anyone and search them if they have ‘reasonable suspicion’, which is not defined; KE officers that are not ork, dwarf or troll are to be issued heavy firearms, such as Ares Alphas; KE officers do not need to write reports concerning discharging their weapons as this would create too much paperwork in the current environment and not allow for the safety of our officers nor completion of their duties), he needs him to back off. Luckily, according to Kate, her husband is the next in line to be precinct Captain. And the environment right now is just right for an assassination to be written off. So, he hires runners to do just that. However, after showing his face last time, he can't just show it again, so he does so through a very roundabout way, hiring runners with a recording and an Escrow account. They manage to kill Garret Cole, setting off the whole of the precinct as they do. The runners all escape and Greg Sawyer becomes the new Captain. See News "Stunning News"

### The Hand That Feeds

Simon has managed to glean some not fully deleted data from the commlink bought with his decker friend's life. Luckily, the previous runners took some mercy on him and left him some cash, so he uses this to hire matrix-savvy runners to go to the host this comm frequented, and get the other half of the retrieved file. The runners do so, leaving him with what looks like a funds request written in code. (See the Discord Data Board for a file posted by Twitch). He reaches out to his old fixer, who puts him in contact with NCL. From here, Twitch gets the information and sends it to the Farmer's Market in general as he searches for more info to stop what is now believed to be an attempted genocide.

## News

### No Bombing in the OU

((This was released almost immediately following the failed bombing, and has since gone viral, especially among the OU))

The bomb threat to the OU was ended yesterday as the joint task force between KE and the Skraacha found and disarmed a bomb located in one of the outlying districts. But tensions reportedly came to an all-time high as one of KE's own revealed their bomb vest in the middle of the goblin bazaar! While no KE or Skraacha were there to stop him, reports say that one of the OU's own citizens wrestled the detonator from him while a second goblinized citizen subdued the bomber. "I can't believe it was someone in KE... maybe those posts weren't so wrong." "In the end, it was the OU that saved lives, and it was KE endangering them." Knight Errant has stated they have no plans to release the name of the bomber because that glorifies his position. OU citizens have a different take. "Yeah, that uh... just sounds like cops protecting cops." More information will be shared as it is gained!

### KE: Inept or Malicious?

((This is a viral post from the same blog that talked about the saving of the OU from bombing previously. This occurred in response to another run that was not metapolot linked))

We see yet another attack on the Ork Underground. Sure, they avoided trouble the first time, but... wasn't that one of KE's own? And it wasn't even caught by KE! It was OU's own citizens that took the man down. And here we are, less than a few weeks later with an attack that shakes the Ork Underground once more. All the money that shops were looking forward to making off the festival, gone in a flash. And it's got me asking... Is this how KE is handling the Ork Underground? Is this what we can expect moving on into the future? These things weren't happening when it was only the Skraacha watching us down here. They seemed to have a handle on things. Why? I'll tell you why. Because they cared! KE doesn't care about us. They want to meet the bottom line. Hell, I bet half the reason they're down here is so they have a steady stream of "trogs" to blame for crimes that they can't find a culprit for. It's time KE was held responsible for their actions! It doesn't matter who did the attack on the OU at this festival! What matters is that KE didn't stop it! KE is to blame for everything! They're either inept or malicious, you decide. But either way, they gotta go.

### Councilman Ida Miki Shot During Groundbreaking Speech in OU

The councilman was giving a speech regarding his proposed policies which would add more legitimacy for the district and provide necessary funds to improve infrastructure. This is a flip from his initial policies that originally condemned metahumans and the Ork Underground as a whole. The Councilman has been transported to Seattle General Hospital where he has been treated and is out of critical condition. Doctors anticipate he will make a full recovery but will likely be laid up for the next few weeks. KE is currently investigating who is behind the attack, more information will be released as we get it.

### Ork Underground Resident Simon "Sims" Barker Arrested in Connection to Assassination Attempt

Councilman Ida Miki is currently recovering in the hospital, but he's celebratinf good news as Knight Errant has made an arrest of the suspected assassin. Simon "Sims" Barker is an ex-UCAS Army Ranger with field experience as a sniper. Acting on a lead from inverviewing several witnesses of the crime, KE served a search warrant earlier today and found several firearms, including a Terracotta Arms AM-47 consistent with the ballistics of the bullet that struck Councilman Iki. Representatives with known Skraacha ties oppose this arrest, but have not stopped KE from fulfilling their duties. Councilman Ida was shot while delivering a speech about legitimizing the OU and preparing funds to help repair and upgrade a lot of its infrastructure. The councilman was not available for comment.

### Protests in the OU

Protests in the Ork Underground have started since the implication of Simon "Sims" Barker. According to the Skraacha, the shooter was definitely not an ork, and is suspected to be human. KE is accused of framing Barker in order to quickly close the case. "Like every other corp, they care more about the bottom line than the people they're protecting. We never should have let them in the Underground," speaks spokesman Jeffry Williams, troll and Ork Underground resident. Neither KE nor the Skraacha have issued a statement. If you're a human or elf, avoid the Bazaar at all costs. And if you're a topsider at all, exercise extra caution.

### RIOTS in the OU

BREAKING NEWS. A previously peaceful protest in the Ork Underground has now developed into a full blown Riot. Citizens are advised that stay at home orders are now in effect. No statements have been given at this time

### Explosion tears through KE's efforts

BREAKING NEWS. The KE precinct in the OU that was being used to investigate the recent attempt on Councilman Miki's life saw a tragic accident today, as an unprecedented lack of care around firearms lead to an incident in the armoury. It is estimated about 76 people died in the explosion, and a further 104 are in hospital as a result.

### Stunning News as Newly Appointed KE Captain Takes Unexpected Action

The death of OU Precinct Police Captain Garret Krole is just the cherry on top of terrible goings-on in the Ork Underground. The good news is, the actions of newly appointed Captain Bruce Nolan, formerly a lietuenant in the same precinct, seem to indicate they do not blame the OU. KE indicates there was an attempt at a frame job, but they distrust the source, as it was "too obvious ." Captain Bruce Nolan has arranged for a community outreach by preparing a number of kits and having his officers hand them out to help OU residents through this time. Maybe this will be the time that wounds actually begin to heal.

### Explosion in Downtown Seattle

An explosion was reported in an apartment building in the central part of Downtown. No one was injured, according to KE officers questioned at the scene. One resident gives her report: "When I heard it, all I could think is that the violence underground had bled up here. But with no followup noises, I went down to inspect what had happened with my trusty Ares Predator V, the best tool for home defense. The door was blown off the wall, and when I checked inside, the apartment was entirely empty." KE officers confirm the apartment was empty but refuse to disclose the previous tenant. Either way, in these unprecedented times, arm yourself with the best. Order an Ares Predator V now and get a free class and 10% off your firearms license. --Ares News Network(edited)