Speluknin' and Ghoul Huntin'

## The Meet

Marta Sirkowsky Invited the runners to her Bar, the Shadowed Alcove. She explained that the Ork Underground had been trying to expand into new areas and create habitable zones, but their efforts were being hampered by feral ghouls. They wanted the area cleared of ghouls and for it to be done in a way that didn't risk damaging, or collapsing the caverns. Those who took the job would be disarmed, blindfolded, and escorted to the Ork Underground where they would be given more details. Exceptions were made for Grond, due to his large size and metatype.

Everyone agreed, and were taken to a decontamination chamber where they met Oakstein and Erwin Austins. The two went into more details; somehow the ghouls in the area were being augmented, cybereyes were the most common but many also had strange symbols carved into their flesh. There were also reports of a large Dzoo-noo-qua in the area.

The runner's price was briefly haggled on, a base price for clearing the place out, with an additional bounty for live capture of some of the augmented feral ghouls. They were strangely intelligent, despite being Feral and the 'ware showed no signs of being rejected by the infected.

## Legwork

The runners were offered offensive and defensive gear by Oakstein, though most was refused due to the likelihood of causing just as much trouble for the Infected on the team. Óphis and Bullet took a "slightly toxic" potion that supposedly mitigated the risk of contracting HMHVV.

## Run

The runners were let into the caverns and were almost instantly treated to the sounds of bones being broken and flesh being eaten. the first ghouls they encountered were easily captured by closing tossing a gas grenade into the hut they were feasting in and closing and barricading the doors. the runners methodically scouted around the cavern, Grond levitating to more difficult areas and the rest following signs of corpses being dragged around. Three more ghouls were discovered in nearby huts and there was a brief scuffle when they smelled the runners approaching. Grond managed to hit all three with a knockout gas breath weapon and they were dragged to the first hut and locked inside. There was a staircase to a lower level in one of the new huts and everyone snuck down to find a horde of ghouls loading corpses into a pair of boats. A mass mind control from Grond gathered most of the ghouls into a clump and another use of his breath weapon knocked them out, leaving only a single Ghoul for the rest of the runners to dispatch.

One of the bodies in the boats was found to be alive. Óphis scouted the area while Bullet revived the man for questioning. He was discovered to be free from the Infection and the runners decided to return to Oakstein with the survivor and inform her of the ghouls that needed to be picked up before the awoke. Oakstein was shocked at the number the runners had managed to capture and admitted that she did not have the cash to be able to pay for all of them, but was willing give them a chance to explore the Goblin Market with a voucher for reduced prices.

The runners head back out into the caverns. Signs pointed to the ghouls entering the area through the water. They piled into the boats and Óphis kept the sound of their approach silent using a Sound Barrier. Exploring the passages they found a large chamber with a steel door in the wall, guarded by two augmented ghouls, one a massive troll, the other an ork, The runners tried to approach stealthily to ambush the pair but Bullet was spotted in an unfortunately exposed position and barely survived a volley of bullets from the pair. A very messy fight occurred, Grond attempted to mind control the pair but had trouble holding either one for long, Bullet and Óphis took potshots at the them while Domino danced between their swords.

The fight caught the attention of the being behind the door and an insane vampire levitated out of the doorway and joined the fight. By the time Grond managed to force the troll to disembowel itself and Domino knocked out the ork Óphis had been knocked unconscious and the mage had fled back into it's lair. They decided that they were in no condition to pursue the mad mage and returned to Oakstein and Erwin to recover and grab a few of the anti-infected weapons they had at their disposal. (Grond essence drained the ork before we left)

They returned rested and armed to find the corpses of the two infected missing and maglock to the metal door blasted shut. (I forget how we bypassed that but we did.) Inside was a mix between a charnel house, a chapel and mad science lab; piles of corpses, bodies suspended in tubes of vile liquid, ancient computers and a raised walkway around the outer edges. The Blood Mage was halfway through vivisecting a massive Dzoo-noo-qua and when he noticed the door open he unbound it's restraints and magically compelled it to kill us as he floated to the ceiling. Óphis and Grond attempted to end the mages control of the Dzoo-noo-qua and nearly gained an ally but the mage wasn't having it and hit everyone with a powerful lightning ball Grond and Óphis managed to barely protect their allies but the infected troll wasn't so lucky. From there Óphis set a powerful UV flashlight on the mage and Bullet and Domino took him out.

## Aftermath

Domino happily swam in the rivers of blood and viscera while Bullet and Óphis checked out the old fashioned computers for anything worth taking. They found mad ramblings, blood magic and a half completed spell formula for a spell to Infect and enslave large numbers metahumans. they copied everything onto a datachip, hoping to maybe find a way to turn the research to good and went home.

## Rewards

* 28K Nuyen,
* 8 karma, (+1 for Ophis, Bullet, and Domino)
* A trip to the Goblin Market trip
* +1 Ork Underground/Skraacha faction rep
* 2 CDP or Oakstein as a 2/1 contact

## Player After-Action Reports

*In Character* accounts of events, general impressions, or memorable moments