Cyberpunk Red: THE GIG (Sage's Story)

Sage is seen making her way into the deeper parts of Night City.

Hook: Looming Threat. Sage was set to perform on stage but her contact there suddenly went silent for way too long. She even heard rumors that the gig was going to be cancelled. It is a big-time gig though. She is NOT going to let that go easily if she could help it. So, that's it, she's taking things into her own hands. Looks like she is going to head there herself and get to the bottom of it.

Dev: Personal Stake. Sage had already engaged a delivery service to transport her equipment to the gig location. The service offered armored transport with state-of-the-art military hardware. Cargo is guaranteed to be secured and insured if they don't arrive in one piece. At least that's what they said on the ad.

The gig was about to net her a really nice chunk of change so she went all in with the delivery service. However, it set her back a few hundred ebs. It's a small price to pay to make sure everything went as smoothly as possible. The route between her place and the gig location is widely considered to be some of the most dangerous routes in NC. 

Dev: Personal Stake. Sage hasn't had a gig or a job for a long time and she's leaking ebs. She had already made all the necessary arrangement to transport her equipment over to the gig location. 

Her roommate guitarist, who goes by the stage name of Jonathan Silvers, went ahead to the location with all of their equipment on his van. They also had to loan some other equipment - their Tech ordered them to haul a bunch of stuff to resolve some compatibilty issues with the stage they were playing at.

However, the vehicle was so full of their stuff that Sage was forced to give up her seat for the time being. Silvers last update was when he arrived at the location. Then it just seemed like he vanished. Hopefully everything's alright. That's hundreds, if not, thousands of ebs worth of equipment, her friend and her home. Oh yea, she and Silvers live in his van.

With a scowl on her face, she marches onto the cold concrete grounds under the dark polluted skies. It was such a lengthy journey that Sage could feel the exhaustion creeping in.

"I should be heading the right way. Just need to continue down this path." Sage ponders to herself as her eyes dart around, scanning the street signs.

She can't help but notice that the place was ... quiet. Then she spots something in the corner of her eye.

Cliffhanger: Confrontation. A couple of boosters. Ironsights. Both are strapped. One of them carries an Assault Rifle. The other, a handgun.

"Uh oh. Might be trouble." Sage thought to herself. She makes her way to the nearest cover to ensure she is out of sight. Shen then takes another peek to confirm their numbers. "Yup, it's just two of them."

She needed to cross the street but she will have to make it past the boosters. There's no other way around. No cover or places to hide so sneaking past them is near impossible.

"Maybe they'll ignore me if I keep my distance?" She shakes her head, furrows her brow, and then retorts to herself. "Yea, fat chance. These are boostergangers. Not the type of guys that'll stay out of trouble."

"What to do • • • ?"

• • •

"I'll just ask them what's up. I gotta at least know what's happening first, right? But that's if they try to bother me." Sage readies herself to step out and approach the gangers. "Maybe it's really nothing and they'll just let me be."

Sage adjusts her holster, making sure her Militech Crusher is within reach at all times.

The Rockerboy casually walks down the street while attempting to inconspicuously observe the gangers. Will they react or ignore her?

The male ganger with the purple mohawk turns to face her, his cybereyes affixed on Sage's mug. "Yup, of course • • • sigh • • • here we go." Sage thinks to herself as she returns her gaze on the gangers.

"Looks like we've got ourselves a tourist." The ganger keeps a stern look on his face. "You wanna leave your footmarks on our turf then you're gonna need to pay the tax."

"I think I know what's going on now." Sage thinks to herself. "Guess its best to pay up and hope my gig works out."

• • •

"Alright choom. I don't want any trouble - just wanna cross the street. Let me know how much and I'll wire the funds over." Sage replies.

"You don't put up a fight, huh?" The other ganger with a bandana across her face chuckles. "That's good."

Sage just nods as she prepares the transfer. She can't help but notice the whirring sounds and beeps coming from the mohawk ganger's cybereyes. She might be wrong, but it sounds like the ganger is still scanning her. Shit, what now?

Sage continues to observe the gangers. The male ganger quietly signals to the other one. The bandana Ironsight member slowly brings up their agent and squints at Sage. The Rockerboy carefully takes a peek. Then her heart sank.

An image of a bounty poster with Sage's face on it flashes across the ganger's agent. A high price hangs above her portrait. A million thoughts raced through her mind in a fraction of a second. Sure, she's got enemies. Who the hell doesn't? But who's going so far to see her dead? No time to think about it now. Sage smells a firefight coming.

"You know," The male ganger suddenly grunts. "once we're done with the transfer, we'll need ya to follow us for a bit. You paid your fee so you've got nothing to worry about."

The ganger tightens his grip on his firearm. Sage looks up and makes a painful attempt at a smile. "Sure thing, choomba."

• • •

Sage flips out her trusty Crusher and pulls the trigger in one fluid motion, catching the gangers off guard. The shell splits up upon fire and smacks right into both of them.

Without missing a beat, Sage spins around and ducks back into her previous cover. The gangers howl in pain but quickly recover. They're hurt real good but unfortunately not dead.

"You'll pay for that ya gonk!" The mohawk ganger raises his rifle and blasts right at the Rockerboy, catching her twice on her torso. The male booster turns to his comrade. "Flatline her now!"

The other ganger lets a bullet fly right into her target's traps.

Sage winces as she looks over her piece of cover. Her armorjack managed to soak a lot of the damage she took but it won't last for long. She'll need to end things fast.

Right now the mohawk ganger's looking like the most dangerous goon on the street. She'll prioritise him for now and improvise if the other one becomes too much trouble. Sage switches for her VHP and looks out for an opening.

The mohawk ganger ceases fire and steps out to get a better angle. That was the opening Sage needed. She pops up and puts a bullet right into the ganger's neck.

The ganger lets out a short squawk before gurgling on his own blood. He wheezes and chokes as he drops his rifle and grabs his ruptured neck. But the damage was too great and the ganger collapses.

"No, no, no - Matty!" The remaining ganger yells. "You can't die!"

She then collects herself. "I'll bring the others here. Don't you go flatlining on me, ya hear!" 

"You're a dead gonk walking, Sage." The ganger yells as she withdraws. "I'll make sure to put you in the dirt!"

 • • •

Resolution. Sage stands up, making sure to hug her cover tightly. Looks like it's over for now.

Sage double checks her digital map. Yup, the Ironsight ganger ran towards the location of the gig. What's going on? Sage feels a wave of anxiety washing over her. Damn it, is Silvers alright? And who's gunning for her?

There's only one way to find out. Or at least die trying. The Rockerboy takes a deep breath and lets out a drawn-out sigh. This is going to be a long night. She makes her way over to the goon lying on the ground. He might have some clues for her.

 • • • End • • •

Cyberpunk Assets from Kitbash in Unreal Engine Tutorial

Before we begin, some disclaimers. 'Cyberpunk' and 'cyberdistrict' asset packs belong to Kitbash. Do credit wherever credit is due. 

Do make sure that Unreal Engine is properly set up. Boot up Unreal Engine and create a new project file. The engine needs about 30 mins to an hour to set up shaders, textures and other important functions to run the program. If you did not encounter long waiting times, please repeat those steps before proceeding. 

Locating Your Unreal Engine Project File

Once you've created a new project file, locate the file in windows explorer. The file should save itself in the following folder by default:

[System Drive Name]:\Documents\Unreal\[Project File Name]

Once you've located the project file, the file structure should look something like this:

It should contain a collection of folders as well as an executable file (With an Unreal logo icon).

Asset Packs Installations

Your downloaded asset packs should come as a .RAR file. Unzip them if you haven't done so.

Now go back to the Unreal Project File in windows explorer and move the unzipped folders in the 'Content' folder.

Booting Up Unreal

Now run Unreal Engine and open your project file. Open your Content Drawer. If you don't have the drawer, just click on the Content Drawer button on the bottom left-hand corner.

Once you have it opened, your Unreal project file should look something like this:

On the left hand side there should be a folder structure. This should be your browser for the files you've set up earlier.

Loading the Asset Packs in Unreal

Brace yourself for more waiting. We'll go with cyberdistrict asset pack first. Open the Content folder and locate the asset pack. Then double click the 'Actors' folder.

Click on one of the assets within the Content Drawer. Then press 'Ctrl + A' to select all the assets in the drawer. Once that's done, right click once.

On the bottom right hand corner of the screen there should be a loading bar. They should also say 'Preparing Shaders'. Now give it some time to load.

Once that disappears, test the assets by selecting an asset in the drawer and drag it into the level. Then rinse and repeat for the other asset pack.

That's it! All done. Now go have fun!

Cyberpunk Red Dot //

 

The Story So Far...

You are part of a nomad group known as the Tangs Voyagers that originated in Singapore. Started as a small-time organization with the intention of helping one another get through the Time of Red, over the years it turned into a family that deals with the underground trade of smuggling Fresh Cloned Meat in Singapore and the areas around the island. Your nomad family also contains a group of techies who have unquestionable loyalty to the organization and invented a piece of technology known as the "Freezer Box", a device your family relies on when smuggling the goods.

Almost nothing ever goes smoothly in the Time of Red.

A rival nomad family known as the 360 degrees had provoked an all-out gang war with your family recently. This is suspected to be a move to occupy the territory that the Tang Voyagers now reside in Singapore. Your family was never able to get any more information than that.

Others also made mention of the revival of local gang called the 3-6-9 and how they are related to the 360 degrees. 3-6-9 was a gang that was formed long before the Time of Red but it had been stomped out by the local government back then. After the 4th Corporate War however, it seems like some enterprising individuals decided to use the instability of the situation get the gang back together.

Recently your family got caught in a skirmish with the 360 degrees. The Tang Voyagers managed to scrape out of the conflict alive but took a sizeable amount of casualties. Luckily you and two other members known as Lil' Babe and Steph survived the encounter unscathed. There may be others but you are not quite sure who they are at the moment.

The current leader, Tang Leng Bong, has ordered all able-bodied members to take up jobs or find any other ways or means to help the Tang Voyagers to get back to full strength. They'll need money, medicine, supplies - pretty much anything that could help the family recuperate.

Mission Summary (For Your Own Reference Only)

After pulling a job trading from the South Old Malayan City Docks, the money the crew got are stolen from them by a gang of suspected nomad rivals. The crew is lured into a trap to snip them off as loose ends by the same gang, who have kidnapped and tortured their Fixer, Morrison, to set the snare.

Adventure Starts Here! Hook: The Phone Call

Fixer Morrison Liao

You are tasked by the higher ranking family members to complete a job for fixer known as Morrison Liao to escort a shipment out of Singapore. The job was simple and you encountered no complications. Once the shipment is out, you call Morrison to tell him the job is done so you can collect your payment. Morrison fails to pick the call so you drop him a message to call you back.

After returning from a job, the Player Characters (PCs) receive a call to their burner phone which they received from Morrison, their Fixer. The Fixer’s message is simple: “We’ve got to change the pickup point for your payment to an Woodlands industrial park in Singapore.” Why? He won’t say and assures them that nothing is wrong.

However, your tone should hint that something IS indeed wrong, because Morrison is being held at gunpoint, and is being forced to lure the PCs into a trap. If someone starts to catch on, or questions Morrison more, call for a Human Perception Check. If they beat the DV of 17, they learn for sure that something is up and that their Fixer, and by extension their payday, is in danger. 

Of course, even if they fail, they can still suspect whatever they want. Whatever happens, soon thereafter, their Fixer hangs up before answering any questions they may ask

Development: Woodlands Industrial Park

The PCs can approach the meeting in Woodlands Industrial Park either knowing it’s a trap or being ignorant of it. Either way, when they arrive, ask your players how they want to approach the situation. 

Any approach that incorporates a Skill Check of 17 or higher will lead them immediately to a beneficial situation. You get to adjudicate what this beneficial situation looks like, but showing them the positions of some of the enemies in the upcoming ambush or having them discover the location their Fixer is being held early is a good idea. 

At the center of some alleys is a hooded man handcuffed to a briefcase. He offers it to the PCs, and will fumble around with the key far too long before handing it to them, dropping it in the process. This should be suspect. Take a note of which specific character takes the briefcase. The briefcase takes an Action to open. 

Inside is 10,000eb, however, a DV 17 Forgery Check will reveal that it is counterfeit. The hooded man is a disguised rival nomad named William Ang who is cunning, and the hand-off is the signal for his equally cunning friends to close off the exits to these alleys and try to kill the PCs.

Cliff hanger: Alleyway Ambush

When the ambush starts, there are a total number of rival nomads equal to the PCs plus 2, including William, and each new rival nomad appears from either end of an alley on the map. 

As combat begins, have one yell “they’ve got a gun!”. Here are some names of other nomads at the scene: Amanda Ong, Brian En Keng, Khalil Uzman, Rex Boo, Annis Ow, Matteo Feng, and Enrique Duterte. Make sure they get speaking lines, or your players will feel like they are shooting bags of HP. We need to make sure they remember they are shooting people, to get the gritty feeling we want. 

The rival nomads each attempt to flee when they reach ½ HP or suffer a Critical Injury, by running across the edge of the map, unless their situation doesn’t permit it, in which case, they fight to the death. 

Keep track of the number of rival nomads who escape. Questioning a captured rival nomad is a DV 17 Interrogation check, which reveals the location of their hideout if successful, and reveals nothing if failed. A sufficiently violent interrogation that fails is liable to kill the rival nomad. Once the shooting has ended, Morrison the Fixer, who has been tied up in a nearby storage room, finally manages to get their gag off and shouts out to the PCs for rescue.

Development: Saving the Fixer

Morrison is suffering the Crushed Fingers Critical Injury on his right organic hand and his left cyberhand has been Dismembered and dismantled with some cotton wool in his mouth as a gag. 

When discovered, he has only 5 HP. For his condition, he's doing surprisingly well, and is happy to see that the team survived the ambush. He's done for this adventure, of course. If one of your players is playing a Medtech, he requests that they Quick Fix his crushed fingers Critical Injury.

Quick Fixing his Crushed Fingers is a DV 13 Paramedic Check. If the Quick Fix is successful, Morrison will offer to owe them a favor: “the good kind”, he says. If there isn't a Medtech in the group, the Fixer instead requests you call him a Combat Cabb, as his phone was destroyed during the scuffle. 

Either way, the Fixer tells the crew that these nomads, who roughed him up and stole the crew’s eddies and belongings probably caught wind of their scheme through an informant (Great time to bring in a PC’s Lifepath Enemy) they have close to the South City docks. 

Morrison knows where they are keeping the money they stole from the crew-in a warehouse not too far from the docks that they raided during the job the crew just pulled. He's also pretty sure the money in the suitcase is fake, given the circumstances, but makes a joke about being unable to flip through it at the moment. Charitably, the Fixer recommends they go visit death upon the nomads quickly, before they are able to recuperate from the battle and are able to hide the real money they stole.

Development: Freezer Box

During the alleyway ambush, one of the PC realizes that the Freezer Box got destroyed in the process. The techies aren't going to be happy about this. They can choose to store the parts that remain.

Climax: The Warehouse at Woodlands

The Warehouse is the PCs opportunity to go on the offensive, to end the session by exercising agency. Toward this end, there are many ways the PCs can approach the warehouse, but briefly, they break down into three camps: Violence, Stealth, and Diplomacy, or the secret fourth camp: whatever wild idea they come up with. 

Instead of saying “what do you want to do” to start the scene, go with “How do you want to approach this? Stealth? Violence? Diplomacy? Anything is fair game”. This will hopefully get the players into a creative mindset, perhaps even one creative enough to take the secret fourth option. Here's how to run the warehouse in whatever way they go.

▶ Diplomacy◀ 

Diplomacy involves starting a dialogue, which implies giving away your position. Make sure you know which person will be doing the talking, and who else will be appearing alongside them for backup. There's no reason everyone in the party has to give up their positions, but make sure everyone knows that anyone who chooses to hide will be unable to hop into the negotiation once it's started without causing it to fail. 

Once the negotiating PCs reveal themselves, have the negotiator from the rival nomads side appear. If you used a Lifepath Enemy for the informant in Saving The Fixer, have this character be them. Otherwise, this is a great time to tie in an entirely new Lifepath Friend or Enemy into the plot, or you can use a rival nomad who survived the ambush. The opposition starts with an offer to return half of the money, and drop all hostilities. They'll be keeping half of it, to pay for medical expenses and the cost of the entire operation. Should the PCs take the offer, no Skill Check is required, and everyone walks away. A DV13 Forgery Check can confirm the Eurobucks are real. 

If the PCs counteroffer, they'll have to make a DV15 Persuasion Check (but if it's a wild counteroffer, this goes up to DV17), and failing means triggering a Facedown (page 21), Negotiator vs.Negotiator. 

The opposing negotiator adds 8 to their ten-sided die for this roll. If the rival nomads win the Facedown, they'll change the offer to: we'll give you back 30% of the cash, and unless you accept right now, we'll kill you (see Violence, below). If instead the PC negotiator wins the Facedown, the rival nomads will accept the counteroffer. Succeeding the initial counteroffer Persuasion check also causes the rival nomads to accept the counteroffer. Should a Rockerboy be in the group, the opposing negotiator is a fan of their music.

▶ Violence◀ 

Violence is simple, but we want to make sure the combat encounter is spicy enough to sizzle and excite. First off, listen to your players to learn about how they want to tackle the building. The opposition inside the warehouse should appear at first to be a number of rival nomads equal to the number of PCs plus two, and should include all of the rival nomads that escaped the ambush, at the HP they escaped at (any Critical Injuries will have been Quick Fixed by now). At the beginning of the second round of combat, introduce a new rival nomad to the encounter at initiative count 20 (or even better, a Lifepath Enemy), crashing through the skylight on a motorbike. Use the Dirty rival nomad statblock, but give them 11 SP Armor, an Assault Rifle, 20 MOVE, and the ability to drive without using their hands. In other words, they’re driving with their mind and using their hands to shoot their Assault Rifle. This will dial up the spice, and make the cramped warehouse a violent bullet playground, just like we want. Unlike before, here the rival nomads will fight to the death. 

▶ Stealth◀ 

Stealing the money silently and getting away safely is no mean feat, but it is possible. However, do the players a favor and remind them what the LUCK Stat is for beforehand. Breaking in silently takes a DC17 Stealth Check, and once inside, they immediately find the money. Getting it is the hard part. The money is in a safe that requires a DC15 Electronics/Security Tech or DC17 Pick Lock check to open. You could also steal the key from an unaware rival nomad with a DC15 Pick Pocket Check. Once the money is in hand, sneaking out is a DC15 Stealth Check. Assuming that all goes well, you walk away. 

But something is probably going to go wrong, and when it does, begin combat as if the PCs had chosen violence instead, but skip the rival nomad on a roadbike part, unless you are feeling frisky.

▶ Wild Ideas◀ 

Your players may come up with something so wild and off the wall that neither of us could have possibly prepared for it. The good part is this option is actually the easiest to GM, ruleswise, and in doing this, your players have made your job much simpler. Just go with it. Go with their half-baked plan. Your players will love you for it. But, inject some roadblocks as they go. Find a way to challenge them with a DV15 Skill Check that makes sense for the situation, then, just as they feel like they are about to win, challenge them with a DV17 Skill Check that makes sense to provide a final challenge that feels like an escalation. 

Bonus points if you can tie this Skill Check to one of their Lifepath Enemies. If combat is a part of their plan, go with the fight spelled out in the Violence option above, but skip the roadbike rival nomad part. However their wild idea ends up, they will feel fulfilled in their choice, having made their own ending to their story.

Resolution: Consequences 

Whatever happens, your PCs will have gotten paid. The only question is, what will be the consequences of their actions. First off, unless they negotiated with the rival nomads, if they left any rival nomads alive, everyone is ending up with a 1,000eb bounty on their head. 

The exception is the person who accepted the suitcase from William Ang at the Woodlands Industrial complex: they're getting a 2,000eb bounty. A Rockerboy who receives a bounty in this manner is likely to receive a bump in album sales, and you should award them a level of Reputation to go along with the great publicity and street cred. Give two levels of Reputation to any Media that receives a bounty, because it's a well-known badge of trustworthiness in the news community to be wanted by the state. The Medtech likely now has a favor to spend with Morrison, and you should make sure that they feel its worth in any future adventure they run with the character. Any Lifepath Friends or Enemies that were in the plot that survived to the end should be given their chance to either thank someone in the crew or vow revenge before slinking back into the shadows.

Alleyway Ambush

Warehouse

Pardon the Blog -- Some examples

 Rough example of what a sketch could look like:

Rough example of what inked could look like:

Rough examples of what flats could look like:

Rough example of what renders could look like:

Creative Uncut Gallery: Persona 5 Character Artwork

 I am a big fan of Persona 5's artstyle. Especially those with high detail.

The artist uses a mixture of hard, soft and stylized shadows to give the artwork some form of definition. This is a trait I would like to incorporate into my artwork as well.

Have a look!

DEMO

DEMONSTRATION SCRIPT

~ SleepiBoi

OBJECTIVE: 

Get straight to the point. Make it short, sweet and clear. There is an objective you need to fulfill. Throw away the extra fluff. No one wants to hear it.

...

Today I will be presenting to you the changes and improvements I have made to the tool room in these past few weeks. I will begin with the withdrawal changes and the improvements I have made there.

1. Withdrawal Changes. 

In the past, we select the machine we want to use then the project code. After that we are presented with a gigantic list of 600 tools to search through to get the tools we want. 

Now you simply just have to tell the machine what part you're running as well as its machine and project code. Once that is done you are presented with these special lists.

All the tools have already been pre-selected according to its tool list. Simply scroll through the overview box, select & withdraw.

I have affixed several tools with images to assist users with selecting the right one for  the job. This also minimises the chance of having the wrong stock recorded into the system.

BENEFITS: 

Time needed to search for common tools will be cut down as users no longer need to sift through a list of hundreds of tools. Select what you need or withdraw everything on the list.

With the additional menus, more data can be captured by Guhring. This then enables us to specifically pin point where and what the tool that was withdrawn is specifically used for when viewing the data.

2. Export.

Next, we shall take a look at Guhring's export system and how it has improved.

With the old system, we can only view a limited set of data. With the new system in place, we now can see more accurately what each tool that were withdrawn were used for. With this added data, we can, for example, make better and informed decisions when making tool purchases.

3. Automatic Mailing System.

Everything that goes in and out of the tool management system is recorded automatically. With this core principle in mind, I have finally managed to set up an automatic mailing system that is scheduled to send the previous week's consumption reports and analysis charts regarding articles below minimum stock every Monday at 6am to Mr. Foo.

The time spent to manually send emails to him can now be spent on other matters that need my attention. It goes without saying that Mr. Foo will receive his reports in a timely and consistent manner and will no longer need to contact me about reports, enabling him to use his time on other matters as well. I also have these reports CC'd to me so that I can check if the emails are sent.

4. Physical.

Along with the software improvements, I have also made physical improvements regarding tool bin arrangements. All of these have been changed with permanance in mind. Every tool that has been neatly arranged will be locked in their respective positions so as to maintain consistency.

Not only is this pleasing to the eye but searching tools on the fly is also made much easier.

5. Planned Improvements.

During my time working in the tool room, I have seen many opportunities for improvement and how Guhring can be properly utilised to execute them. Here are some of the things I plan to improve in the future.

1. Virtual Storage for Arbors and Collets. Arbors and collets have been some of the most trickiest items to track in the tool room. As soon as I discovered that Guhring is also able to track items outside of the machine, I saw the chance to convert an ordinary storing rack into a trackable entity for the software. 

Not only can Guhring track tool consumption, it will also be able to theoratically track the arbors and collets that move and out of the room as well in the future. Wear and tear as well as shelf life can be determined with this data which will in turn help enable us to make informed purchasing decisions regarding these items. As of now, I am still developing a system to effectively do this but I will give this my full attention once I am finished with my current tasks. 

2. System for Sorting & Storing Used Tools. Tools often get loaded and unloaded. There are also tools that last much longer than others. Once a job is done, setters would prefer to store them somewhere that can be easily retrieved again in the future. But with how sporadic the loading plans can be, setters often do a poor job of storing leading to these tools getting misplaced or stored improperly.

I plan to device a system where used tools can be easily stored and retrieved by setters in the future.

3. Additional Data & Image. Finally, as mentioned earlier, affix every or most critical tool with images. Additionally, I want to add tool life data to each tool using the Additional Data feature. 

++ Extras.

• I plan to look into the Haimer Presetter software to see if there are any ways to improve the workflow. One improvement I am looking into is to connect the presetter to a network so that generated programs can be exported without the need of a thumbdrive. If there is no need for that, the presetter is working fine as is. I would also like to mention that the presetter usage has shot up recently.

Any questions?

Eberron: The Shadow War | Prologue Mission 1, Thieves of Starilaskur

Eberron: The Shadow War

Thieves of Starilaskur

===INTRODUCTION===

Welcome to the Shadow War series. This adventure takes place in the Eberron setting and assumes that all of the characters partaking in this adventure are part of the Espionage Agency group patron, the King's Dark Lantern. This adventure main design objective is to provide a compelling backstory for all characters involved.

The Invisible War series aims to carve out a noire intrigue narrative in the campaign. The characters are all part of the King's Dark Lantern, a branch of the King's Citadel that deals with gathering Intelligence. In the main campaign, the characters take part in all sorts of missions from the Dark Lanterns.

However, there are many elements in the story I would like to build up first to complicate the story even further so as to support the noir narrative.

===STORY===

This story takes place during the Last War, 993YK, 5 years before the start of the campaign. In the Last War, Thrane conducted a major assault on Breland and seized the city Starilaskur. The characters at this time could be working for the Brelish military force who plans to make use of the character's talents to retake the city from Thrane's hands or learn more about the enemy. 

LOOT: Military characters might have just stolen the invader's war plans and keys to the inner city while oppotunistic characters may have taken things of monetary value like art objects, gemstones or a big sum of the Thrane soldier's military fund.

EXTRA INFO: Brelish cannot look at the Thranes the same way again after the seizing of Starilaskur city. The attack was made during a holiday in 916YK where soldiers were supposed to cease fighting and be at peace. Nowadays, to call someone a Thrane in Breland meant that the person was dishonorable and unworthy of trust.

The characters have just managed to lose sight of the guards but are now caught in another dilemma. The soldiers of Starilaskur are now on the lookout for the characters. Walking out of the city will not be a cakewalk. The characters must now find a way out of the city to finish their mission.

In this story, one other character will also be involved in the story. Sam Witts.

SAM WITTS: Human male. Sam is actually a spy of the nation of Thrane. He joined and eventually attained a high rank in the Dark Lanterns. He then uses his authority to command his underlings to walk into the hands of his masters amidst the chaos of the war.

===OVERVIEW===

Part 1

The characters first start the adventure after they've just eluded the Thrane soldier's pursuit. After having realized that there is no way out, they will now have to find the second infiltration team led by the decorated Brelish spy Sam Witts. An hour before the operation, the teams have agreed to meet in the now-ruined City Square.

Part 2

After making their way to the City Square, the characters meet Sam Witts who is alone. He claims that his team got captured en route to the rendezvous point. (Sam actually turned them in when they were away). Sam is aware that there is no way out of the city but during his infiltration, he found an ancient city map that revealed a goblin-made underground passage below a castle that can be found in Starilaskur. The castle is also guarded by Thrane soldiers, but he discovered some conflict between the soldiers stationed at the castle and the main soldiers of Thrane. This might be the perfect opportunity for the characters to make their escape.

Part 3

The castle is an ancient goblin castle with lots of goblin architecture still intact. Soon, the characters find out that the soldiers stationed at the castle have all been charmed by and fight for a mysterious entity.

Part 4

The characters make their way to the lower floors and discover that the passages are long gone and are reduced to rubble, dirt and stone. Sam then suggests that the characters find out what or who is controlling the soldiers stationed in the castle. The characters might be able to use their discovery against the Thranes.

Part 5

Soon the characters discover that an artifact known as the Crown of Domination from the depths of Khyber was uncovered by Thrane military long ago. There were plans to use the power of the artifact to give the Thranes the upper hand to win the war. However the plan backfired when the item was used to turn their own men against them. A former Brelish prisoner of war from the dungeons got hold of the crown and took control of the men stationed in the castle.

The young woman has not made any moves yet but the longer she lingers, the greater the chance of Thrane losing control over the city.

Finale

Sam takes hold of the crown (or insists that he takes the crown) and holds the Prophet hostage. As they are led out of the city by the Silver Flame soldier, the characters are betrayed and imprisoned by the Thranes.