EPISODE #5 - Thoughts of Darkness

[MadStepDad]

Wrapping up Episode #3 - The Heart's Final Beat

Winter. Early 1994. A barren, desolate wasteland in upper New York State. Even with miles and miles of crisp, clean white snow blanketing the horizon – the sense of loneliness is pervasive. A bitter East Coast wind whistles through the huge stone fortress once used by the WATCHERS at the GATE. Now the once active fortress is as deserted as its surroundings. In front of the huge double doors of the fortress – three figures stand.

Steam rises from their sweating bodies into the chilly air, but they stand in transfixed silence. Around them chaos begins to unfold. At first slowly – a few police sirens in the distance – but it quickly picks up with the arrival of more and more squad cars, plain clothes detectives and ambulances. Lots of ambulances. AGENT RAMOS, LENIENCE ELDERWOOD and RUDOLPH VAN RICHTEN watch the aftermath of the assault and silently thank God they managed to escape the destruction.

BROTHER PELOV – the last remaining Watcher, saved by the three heroes – is carted away into an ambulance where he will be transported to the local hospital. After answering all questions and enquiries from the reporting officers, the three intrepid PC’s took a few moments to collect their thoughts. What was most odd to the reporting officers was the fact that the corpses strewn about the facility had been dead for some while… yet the shot gun wounds they suffered were fresh. The three PCs had no answers for that (of course they’re not going to tell the cops they were battling zombies and ghouls! Christ, they don’t even believe it themselves…)

The three PCs decided to follow BROTHER PELOV to the hospital, hoping to gain more answers. They stayed with him for a night while he was stabilized, and he filled in the blanks about MASTER BRALKAIN as much as he could. MASTER BRALKAIN was a name VAN RICHTEN had remembered as (allegedly) one of the oldest vampires in the known world, so he plumed BROTHER PELOV for what he knew of him. Once it was decided BROTHER PELOV would receive the medical attention he needed, the three PCs began their day-long trip back to NYC. They had much to discuss.

[MadStepDad]

We bridged the gap in between sessions by recalling the previous events, interacting with the wounded BROTHER PELOV, and then settling in with the long car ride. VAN RICHTEN regaled them with another story from his archives about MASTER BRALKAIN and why that name is so important in Shadow Hunter circles (Stalin, Azal'Lan, Russian KGB???) AGENT RAMOS had the others pore through some of the manuals they had liberated from the burning WATCHERS stronghold. They did learn that BROTHER RUDEN (deceased leader of the WATCHERS, who's body the players discovered alongside the critically wounded BROTHER PELOV) had a son, sent away on a mission at his fathers behest only days before MASTER BRALKAIN and his gang murdered them all. They debated on whether or not to notify the next of kin of his fathers demise.

Now as GM I'm steam rolling towards one thing - November 30th, 1994. So everything I'm doing is building towards that one event. By the time the PCs actually get back to NYC had alot of work to do. AGENT RAMOS must check in, file paperwork and while he's at it I throw a bunch of angles at him. His partner (still officially "suspended" from the PSI) reported a break-in at his residence, in which all of his research regarding the Psi-tracking devices was stolen or destroyed. He was growing justifiably paranoid and urgently wanted to speak with AGENT RAMOS. Meanwhile, word in the office is that one of AGENT RAMOS' suspects in the Pin-Head murders (in which victims seemingly had their brains boiled or vaporized through pin size holes in the head) was brought in on unrelated matters, and released before he could be properly questioned. Suspect goes by the name "NIGEL" though AGENT RAMOS has heard him referred to as HAITIAN JACK before. Not so suprisingly, it was those old brow beaters OFFICER SMITH and OFFICER WHITE who wound up releasing him. Rumors are getting thicker that the PSI unit may be shut down and dismantled entirely.

Meanwhile, LENIENCE ELDERWOOD retired to his modest motel accomodations while continuing to question the validity of these so-called "psychic tracking devices". One of the books he took from the stronghold was a complex mathematical dissertation and compositional breakdown of the universe written by a reclusive underground author named OLYESSO VON BRIDEN. LENIENCE wondered if mechanically, there could be a way to harnass and track this source. Analog equipment could certainly carry an imprint, but he wondered about this still vastly untapped potential of "digital" technology.

All at the same time, I had VAN RICHTEN head off to meet with his Fraternity of Fractured Thought brethren in the city. Along the way, he did encounter OMA GOJANOVIC once more (see EPISODE #2 - THROUGH DARKENED EYES) who told him somebody named BOOKER has been calling around looking for LOMAR (the corrupt Darkling fiend slain by the PCs). OMA GOJANOVIC told VAN RICHTEN that his BOOKER guy has ties to the Black Mafia, the group allegedly responsible for LOMAR's deadly addiction. She gave VAN RICHTEN Booker's pager number. He immediately brought this information to his Fraternity cohorts (all much, much younger, hipper and yet respectfully differential) who rely on his saavy tactics and life long experience. Everybody is chasing the Blood Martyr, all from a different angle (like the kid with the NIRVANA "Nevermind" poster on his wall) and all agree a sacrifice is about to be made. VAN RICHTEN confers with some of the elder members regarding MASTER BRALKAIN, before learning of a big breakthrough - members of the elusive "Temple of Hip Hop" reached out to the Fraternity to offer aid in locating and neutralizing the alleged "Blood Martyr"...

[MadStepDad]

THE NEXT DAY...

The PCs reunited once more in the diner across town. They shared all new and pertinent information, including a very potent story from VAN RICHTEN about early Temple of Hip Hop founders, Geronimo Pratt and his god son - Tupac Shakur. Something big is going down... so big that these isolationists in the feared and misunderstood "temple" would offer some information in exchange for aid from the Fraternity of Fractured Thought and allies. The only contact information VAN RICHTEN had - and showed to the PCs - was a business card for a book store in Brooklyn. The first thing the PCs did was to try to find AGENT RAMOS' partner.

They ran by his old apartment address to find it still boarded up and destroyed from the recent robbery. So they head to the motel he was known to be staying at, only to find he had checked out night before. A few more questions led them to learn he was accompanied by three or four well-dressed Black gentlemen on his way out. Finally they went back to the apartment once more. This time, thye broke through the boarding and entered the ravaged abode. They took a quick search check and found all of his valuables were removed, and his home office scattered. But they did find the exact same business card (for the book store in Brooklyn) that VAN RICHTEN carried. Apparently, AGENT RAMOS' now-missing partner was in contact witht the "temple" as well...

They quickly weighed their options before deciding to use the empty apartment as a pseudo-home base, and paged the man called "BOOKER" from the landline phone. After 45 minutes (and three pages), BOOKER never called. But the PCs were all the more paranoid wondering if this "temple" connection was in fact a deadly set-up. LENIENCE ELDERWOOD is not a shooter, and the idea of having to carry concealed weapons to a meeting absolutely repulsed him. Even after letting the semi fly in previous adventures since discovering the Shadow, LENIENCE never found it any easier to pull a gun. Instead, my mind spray. The players were ready to accept the invitation and made plans to hit the book store in Brooklyn, the one listed on the business card in VAN RICHTENS hand - and AGENT RAMOS' missing-partners apartment.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

like the Dark Powers... I've been silent but watching... just caught up on the latest in the Evil Eye, just as fun as I expected. Can't wait to see how the parallel games play out.... keep it up!

[MadStepDad]

Great. Thanks for reading as always. Now help me out!

I'm here in NYC with this adventure and I want it be damn near epic-level. Here's what I'm thinking (for those familiar with ToD)... LYSSA VON ZAROVICH, Russian diplomat. Around this time (in 1993-94) there were many reports of stolen uranium in Russia. I'm thinking the "Rod" in the adventure is actually a nuclear conductor of some kind. Have the players maybe thinking "terrorists" or something (maybe even throw in the FIRST WTC bombing as a red herring). So LYSSA and her brainwashed monk assistant have the nucleur device smuggled into NYC where the HIGH MASTER wants to use it to do his weird illithid/vampire experiment. What do you think of that as a modern adaptation of this module?

BONESPUR I'm thinking of connecting to the Black Mafia I keep mentioning (the same one the HIGH MASTER covertly runs). Don't know about the paladin and the deformed thief though. I don't want them to meet a weird half-octopus woman, so I'm thinking deformed meth head? Something the Black mafia did to scar and deform her, without the blatant fantasy overtones? Any thoughts? Anybody?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

It's been a long time since I read the module, but the recasting of Lyssa and the rod is genius. You just need to imply somehow that she's got a big bad uncle out there she's trying to bring down with her schemes. I think that's probably the biggest part of her character. Without it, she's just another vampiress.

As for the vamp/illithid thing... I don't know how it meshes with the Black Mafia part, but illithids in a modern setting scream "alien" to me. And alien/vampire hybrid sounds way better than illithid/vampire hybrid ever did.

Instead of half-octopus, go half-alien. Greys would be the classic one, or go with Giger's Alien, or whatever.

Of course, all this bio tampering doesn't say "black mafia" to me, it says "secret government or megacorp project". But if the HIGH MASTER is an alien himself, and has taken over the black mafia with his mind control... ok, maybe it makes sense.

Trying to tie things back to your genre, maybe the aliens secrete something that can be made into some kinda super-drug. They lace the meth with it, and it packs a bigger high, or can be cut more, so it's cheaper. (of course, the poor saps who get hooked on are more susceptible to the alien mind control...)

[Rotipher of the FoS]

If you're looking for something from contemporary horror that would be a good thematic substitute for illithids, the Tall Man from Phantasm springs to mind. Sure, he didn't eat people's brains -- at least, not so far as was shown -- but he pulled off some pretty weird mind-tricks on the protagonists, and his conversion of dead humans into deformed dwarf slaves smacks more of illithid flesh-engineering than necromancy. Plus, whatever he might've really been, under his false skin, it's a fair bet it'd rate "aberration" status in 3E terms.

Perhaps the Tall Man's dimensional gateway (which consists of two upright metal rods, vibrating at the same frequency) has gotten damaged, and he needs Lyssa's nuclear rod to make emergency repairs. The heroes think they'll be confronting a nest of terrorists with a dirty bomb, but instead they wind up passing through the patched-up gate, which promptly breaks down for good. Only by finding the new one the Tall Man has constructed, somewhere in his strange home dimension, can they (or Lyssa for that matter) get home again.

[MadStepDad]

Wow, TWO Frat members respond! I'm on a roll!

I got you on the Lyssa/big bad uncle thing. Of course that's in there, I agree with you completely.

But if the HIGH MASTER is an alien himself, and has taken over the black mafia with his mind control... ok, maybe it makes sense.

Yeah, that's where I'm going. Aliens/Illithid is a cool modern day adaption, I'll keep that. But yes - again things are moving on the fly so I'm not EXACTLY sure what I want to do - the High master is the real brains behind the Black Mafia because of some dark and nefarious purpose. Probably something sorcerer-like and filled with dark, necromantic or summoning magic. Like some kind of giant "Unhallowed" spell that will aid him in his ultimate quest of creating "alien vampires". Create a Blood Martyr, use that power to put himself off the charts, betray Lyssa and go on to usurp the God brain (roswell perhaps???) Something like that.

I LOVE the alien secretion/enhanced drug bit, I'm definitely using that. I can use that as the backdrop for the gypsy darkling LOMAR going mad in EPISODE #2. Trace the drug back to the manufacturers and learn more about the inner workings of the Black Mafia and the High Master.

I have NO idea about the Tall Man, what is that gate exactly? I'll google that right away. Thanks for all the help, and anything else you got will be more than welcome!!!

peace,

MSD

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Never heard of the Tall Man? Darned kids, got no sense of histor-- hey, you rotten whippersnappers, git off mah lawn!

Seriously, check out Phantasm, and possibly the second sequal (but not the lame others). Granted, the clothes, hair and cars are very 70s and might look goofy, but the surrealism and ambiguity give it a Twilight Zone feel, and Angus Scrimm's Tall Man is that rare thing: a human-looking alien who still feels alien. Plus, it's widely regarded as having laid the thematic foundations for the Elm Street films.

Trust me: you will never look at shiny metal balls again, without recalling these movies.

[MadStepDad]

But if the HIGH MASTER is an alien himself, and has taken over the black mafia with his mind control... ok, maybe it makes sense.

Allright, check this out: The Highmaster is masquerading as the head of the Black Mafia. As stated in the module, his ultimate goal is to usurp the God Brain. The bursting of the technological PURE (and the forthcoming digital revolution, etc) can all be traced back to Roswell, where the God Brain ultimately resides.

The High Master figures, hey if the God Brain uses brain waves to control the masses, I'll use radio waves - hence his involvement in this new burgeoning PURE. His ultimate goal is death, destruction, anarchy, genocide and defeatism. So if he can use the music like some kind of long-reaching mass charm spells, or emotion spells, and Ottos Irrestible Dance and stuff like that, he has a good chance of amassing enough of an army that he can overtake the God Brain and assume his position.

I want to include the Temple of Hip Hop in some capacity. I'm visualizing classic D&D in that regard, swordsman with funky names and extreme firearm feats like Angelina Jolie in "Wanted" - stuff like that. Well, this LORD DRASSAK guy from the ToD module will be a member of this Temple (kidnapped and being used as a host for their evil experiments).

I guess the only thing I'm lookin at now is the actual underground complex the PCs go on their grand dungeon crawl to retrieve the Rod. I can't do a damn mountain somewhere, so what kind of ill Modern-day adaptation can I use for that? Or should I stray northward from NYC (the site of this adventure) and just use the mountains of Northern New York after all?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

The High Master figures, hey if the God Brain uses brain waves to control the masses, I'll use radio waves - hence his involvement in this new burgeoning PURE. His ultimate goal is death, destruction, anarchy, genocide and defeatism. So if he can use the music like some kind of long-reaching mass charm spells

Wow! nice connection there. Maybe connect it somehow to subliminal messages, backmasking, etc.

I guess the only thing I'm lookin at now is the actual underground complex the PCs go on their grand dungeon crawl to retrieve the Rod. I can't do a damn mountain somewhere, so what kind of ill Modern-day adaptation can I use for that? Or should I stray northward from NYC (the site of this adventure) and just use the mountains of Northern New York after all?

You kidding? There are TONS of crap underground in NYC, almost more than above ground:

http://www.undercity.org/

http://milkshakechocolate.net/subwayNYCsduncan.htm

(EDIT: Just realized I violated our "2-click" rule with this NSFW link. So I removed it. Instead, google for "miru kim underground art" it's the first link.)

Abandoned subway stations, sewers, utility tunnels, collapsed buildings...

[MadStepDad]

SEPTEMBER 13th, 2009
(Real Time – 13th Anniversary of 2PAC’s demise)

Then they got the call.

Reread that sentence and take it two ways. 1) In game, the two PCs and one NPC (Dr. Van Richten) were on the way to the bookstore when the station buzzed AGENT RAMOS and told him to report to duty immediately. The call to action.

2) Out-of-game I called in reinforcements. The BIG guns. I drafted MARGUERITA DEVILLE back to the table (after languishing in G’Henna Prison off the coast of San Francisco for months). I added ALEXUS DARKAGNON back into the mix and welcomed back the player of TENROU LEE who was out of action in AZ for over a year! I hollered – told them of the spiritual significance of this day – the importance of the mission ahead of them – and they answered the call. The call to action. So 6 people are stationed around the game table for today’s epic level conquest.

Game play begins with a battle of miniatures. The call from the station that AGENT RAMOS received was regarding an illegal jam at a nearby projects playground. So as the three of them rolled up to the set, I had it all mapped out for them.

At first – considering this would be my first real attempt at miniatures battle using d20 Modern rules – I wanted to do it up big. Full landscape, ill props, little HOMIE ® brand miniatures to represent the characters… but then I decided to flip the script and go in the complete opposite direction. To quote BIGGIE SMALLS, I took it back to the gutter for you mutha*****s.

So I made a crudely drawn grid out of 4 pieces of graph paper taped together. I used shoeboxes and boxes of pasta to represent the project buildings. I used my sons little Matchbox toys for the vehicles. I used pennies for the cannon fodder (like all the 0-level people at the park jam just waiting to get hit with stray bullets), nickels for the mid-level goons the PCs would be battling, dimes for the PCs themselves – and a quarter for the MAIN bad guy. Just so he could stand out more. All in all, it was about as hood as you can get. At first – with the play set just standing there on the table as they sat down – my players didn’t know WHAT the heck I was doing. But once I explained the semantics of the battle set up and what I was trying to accomplish, they immediately took to it like gangbusters. D20 Modern miniatures battle – straight hood – MSD style. Let’s roll.

[MadStepDad]

The three characters (AGENT RAMOS, LENIENCE ELDERWOOD and RUDOLPH VAN RICHTEN) pulled up to the crowded park, nestled thickly in between project buildings. The music was already bumping so loud, that the siren from AGENT RAMOS’ squad car couldn’t even be heard. The area was pitch black, like a constant “Darkness” spell had been cast upon it. In order to power the supersonic stereo speakers, electricity must be siphoned from the surrounding light poles. Hence the utter darkness, and unequivocal illegality of the entire gathering (they’re stealing power from the city).

This is the part of the module where the PCs first encounter the bad guys beating down ANNITELLA. So as they make their way into the project courtyard, it is filled to capacity with locals. Most congregate around the homemade sound system at the far end… but some are gathering around the fight scene that necessitated AGENT RAMOS’ call. There, they spot 5 goons (all timberland up with Carhart hoodies) stomping a mudhole into the poor unfortunate soul who just happened to be caught in the middle. Around them – a well dressed Black gentleman with long dreads, sunglasses (even at night) and a slick pimp cane directed traffic. I set the scene, gestured to my ghetto miniatures map and let the dice fall where they may.

Combat ensues.

AGENT RAMOS cannot make the arrest. As soon as the badge comes out, bullets start flying. Dudes are firing with automatic weapons not giving a firetruck WHO they hit. In the end, four bystanders are wounded (one critically), three of the five goons are slain, two are wounded (and subsequently cuffed and arrested by AGENT RAMOS) but the main bad guy (the dreadlocked, suit-and-tie guy with the sunglasses and cane – and the one represented on the board by the quarter) escaped into a waiting car. But AGENT RAMOS caught the license plate number as it drove off.

Following typical Investigator protocol, AGENT RAMOS had three options at the conclusion of this encounter.
1) Question witnesses. Who was the dreadlocked man with sunglasses and the cane?
2) Officially file his report of the incident at the station.
3) Accompany the wounded person the gang was beating down (it turned out to be a woman) to the hospital and hopefully question here more.

AGENT RAMOS chose Option #3, so the three of them followed the ambulance to the hospital where the victim was checked in. She was horribly wounded, looked like a long-term crack abuser (but with a slightly purplish hint to her lips and mouth) and was now in a coma due to the brutal beatdown. She was not going to awaken anytime soon, according to the doctors.

[MadStepDad]

The three of them (AGENT RAMOS, LENIENCE and VAN RICHTEN) were just discussing their next move… when two large black men sauntered into the hospital room. There was a VERY awkward moment as the two opposing sides sized each other up. Were they here to finish the job, the players wondered? The two black men who entered were no doubt thinking “whoa….. cops.”

After a few minutes of interplay, it was revealed that these men (called “the PALE SWORDSMAN” and “BIG AL”) were actually members of the elusive Temple of Hip Hop! The same guys listed on the business card for the bookstore that the players were scheduled to meet up with! What a coincidence! The PALE SWORDSMAN in particular was like “YOU’RE Van Richten??? GNASLAROM said you were old, but I didn’t know you were THAT old!” Turns out these guys (and the Temple of Hip Hop) were actually allies of the woman who now lay comatose in the hospital bed. Things started to make sense.

As they explained to the players, this woman in the bed (named ANNITELLA) is actually a very close associate to one of their own boys – a Temple of Hip Hop warrior called LORD DRASSAK. She and LORD DRASSAK are the reason the Temple of Hip Hop even reached out to the Fraternity of Fractured Thought (secret cabal that VAN RICHTEN aids with his research) and requested their help.

It’s all about the ORDER of GUARDIANS. As RAVENLOFT fans know, there are multiple sects of this great organization – each one dedicated to one particular artifact. The PCs were well-versed in the now extinct OoG branch called the WATCHERS at the GATE (all of them brutally slain during the events of EPISODE #3 – THE HEART’S FINAL BEAT). Well, the Temple of Hip Hop is another off-shoot of the famed Order of Guardians… (what they’re actually protecting is still unknown). But what IS known, is that LORD DRASSAK (senior member of the Temple of Hip Hop) was commissioned by ANOTHER faction of the Order of Guardians called the “Brotherhood of Contemplative Power”. These guys are actually mentioned in the THOUGHTS of DARKNESS module. A traitor within their ranks stole the item they were guarding, and smuggled it to (they strongly suspect) NYC. So they reached out to LORD DRASSAK to seek his aid in its recovery. He brought along his sidekick ANNITELLA, the beautiful, raven-haired, slick-talking vixen… who looks NOTHING like her prior self now as she lays comatose in the hospital with hoses, tubes and machines hooked up to her.

This was weeks ago, and LORD DRASSAK and ANNITELLA had not been heard from since. The last thing the Temple of Hip Hop heard from him (confirms the PALE SWORDSMAN as he relays this tale to the players) was that they were “facing a threat that is thoroughly inhuman, and beyond the scope of mortal comprehension…” Whatever THAT means. He and ANNITELLA vanished shortly thereafter, not to be heard from again. Until today. Word reached the Temple that ANNITELLA had shown up in the projects being beaten by an unknown gang and they rushed to her side as soon as they could. So here they are, bedside with ANNITELLA, discussing the situation with her rescuers, the players. Where were they? What happened? Where’s LORD DRASSAK? Only ANNITELLA could answer those questions, and she’s in no shape for talking now.

So the PALE SWORDSMAN excused himself, and introduced his buddy to the other players as being the one who stay overnight by her bedside until she can be safely moved to another location. Introducing NEW Player Character ALPHONSO RIDENHOUR aka “Big Al”. A massively muscled, brick wall of a man who is strong, silent and the size of a barn silo. In real life, it’s my Q-MONSTAH’s little cousin Damien. He has NO experience with the game, and Q-MONSTAH himself suggested we just make him the powerhouse of the team and to not expect tremendous displays of roleplaying from him. So for the most part, he will play the cut and add the necessary muscle to the team. So PALE SWORDSMAN exits, leaving BIG AL behind with the AGENT RAMOS, LENIENCE and VAN RICHTEN. Shortly after he left, the bedside hospital phone rang. Lenience answered. Somebody making muffled death threats promising to “finish the job”. Nice…

CUT!

[MadStepDad]

MARGUERITA DEVILLE is running. Running down a hallway, clad in her orange prison jumpsuit, broken handcuffs dangling. She has the stolen talisman in her hand, trying to escape. But not so fast… standing at the end of the hallway to meet her – ATTORNEY REGA, with a dozen armed CO’s ready to bring her down forever. Just then… JOHNNY ACID steps into view! He stands in front of ATTORNEY REGA, and withdraws a gun before aiming squarely at the oncoming MARGUERITA DEVILLE! Betrayal! The shot goes off, catching MARGUERITA in the shoulder with the force of a cannon – driving her backwards out through the glass window, where she tumbles stories and stories downwards to the rocky waters crashing with waves. Her mind races. Black-and-white pictures of her father… the flute he left her… the tiny jail cell she called home for months… blood… betrayal. Just as her body was about to hit the sharp jagged peaks, SHE AWOKE!

Startled, she awakens on an airplane. The kind elderly lady next to her asks if she’s all right. MARGUERITA takes a few seconds to answer. She surveys her surroundings. She did escape. She stole the talisman and took the airplane tickets from ATTORNEY REGA after he tried to betray her. The massive earthquake of January 17th 1994 saved her life. Karma? Dark Powers? Whatever it was, that massive 6.7 Richter Scale assault happened in just the nick of time, allowing MARGUERITA to escape with her life, her flute the talisman and the plane tickets.

Speaking of coincidences, who just happens to be on the same flight? Why, none other than ALEXUS DARKAGNON and TENROU LEE! Coming from New Orleans, they happened to hop on the same flight after a brief layover in Tennessee. They witness the young woman awaken with a scream… and as ALEXUS looks closely, he recognizes MARGUERITA! He hasn’t seen her in months, ever since he sent her and the others from Brockton to Los Angeles to handle the threat of undead gangbangers (see EPISODE #1 – KNIGHT of the MENTALLY DEAD). So of course, he approaches her, strikes up a conversation and introduces TENROU LEE. Role-playing goodiness abounds as the PCs compare notes on their futures and destinations… but both sides remain very quiet about their past.

(MARGUERITA is a wanted fugitive, and EPISODE #4 – THE EVIL EYE, in which Alexus and Tenrou both play a role, has not concluded yet on the PbP tip over at the WWuDC clubhouse).

After landing in NYC, they are greeted by RAZOR RYZING, a Japanese man affiliated with the Temple of Hip Hop and one of young TENROU LEE’s sponsors and training partners. RAZOR RYZING awaits the players by a gleaming 1994 Nissan 300ZX, yet his face is somber. He greets the players, and is formally introduced to ALEXUS and MARGUERITA. Then, he bows before TENROU LEE and says ”I’m sorry to be the one to break this to you. But your father is dead…”

CUT!