Hoi, chummers! This is Fodor, and Fastjack's asked me to do a quick article on those wacky elves. Being as I owe him a few favors, I'm uploading this to Jackpoint. Not gonna touch it once it's out there, so don't expect me to get any more specific. I'll leave that to comments from the regular posters.
>>>>>(You're all heart. --PhantomLurker)
Now, some of you might've read the previous upload, the original Shadowland one back in the 50's. That one was some hot info, so hot that the Tir sent some of their Ghosts down to wipe the Shadowland server farm! Thanks to Captain Chaos and his merry crew, that didn't happen.
>>>>>(May he rest in peace. Damn Deus forever for what it did... --GUIGal)
There was a lot of weird stuff in that original download, and enough must've
been true for the Tir's intelligence-types to want it shut up. Unfortunately,
the weirder stuff was pretty puzzling. I won't touch on most of it here, the
old download's still available in datastores if you know where to look-- And
if you don't know where to look, then you don't need to see it. It was a pretty
good read, though. Dunkelzahn himself posted a few comments in that one!
>>>>>(It was a typical smokescreen. Damn wyrms, throwing up dirt to blind us to their true actions. And there's never been any actual proof that the poster called "The Big D" was Dunkelzahn, it was probably some traitor on his payroll, or a dragon groupie. --Dragonslayer)
>>>>>(No, it was him. He had a hole in his firewall that I enjoyed very much. Didn't end up closing it until he started that whole Presidential Campaign thing. --The Smiling Bandit)~Strikes_again!_.Ha.Ha.Ha
In any case, I don't feel like digging up old secrets. The Tir doesn't have the black ops resources it used to due to internal matters lately, but there's still risk involved if you get in too deep. Just ask Spes.
>>>>>(Don't ask Spes. I'm still running, and will be for the rest of my life. --Spes)
So, what I'm going to tell you is how to pull Runs in elfland, also known as Tir Tairngire. This is stuff that any experienced native runner knows, but for those of you who come from points north,
>>>>>(CoughSeattleCough! --CaptainCrunch)
Or elsewhere, this could save your life.
So, let's get on with it.
CULTURE SHOCK
Okay. It's full of elves, you knew this. For starters, most of 'em are tall, pointy-eared, good-looking, and can see great in dim lighting conditions. That's the basic stuff...
But it goes a bit beyond that. There's a whole culture here, a sense of shared unity that makes outsiders, even other elves, stick out like a sore thumb. At least, it used to. Now, with the troubles going on, that's not always the case.
The closest thing that I can think of to compare this to, is a fascist version of Quebec. The elves of the Tir speak their own language, sneer behind their smiles at foreigners, and act super-polite as a matter of course. There's a ton of little courtesies, and levels of courtesy beyond that. Even something as simple as what color of clothing you're wearing sends a message.
At least, it used to. Now, with the megacorps starting to move into the Tir and the associated immigration this is causing, combined with the economic slump... Well, colors of clothing only really matter when you can afford more than one or two outfits. And the guy across the table from you might not be an elf, or observing every courtesy, but he IS the vice-president of a B-rank corp, and if you snub him you'll regret it.
Anymore, you'll only hit etiquette problems when you're dealing with the nobility, or out in the sticks. Everywhere else, the pixies are having to learn how to play well with others.
>>>>>(HEY! --Pixie)
>>>>>(Relax, he meant nothing personal. --Briefcase Chan)
If you DO have to deal with the nobility, check the shadows. Get yourself a Knowsoft of Tir Etiquette, and hope for the best. Don't worry too much about how recent the knowsoft is, the elves are slow to change. And better to be thought of as slightly unfashionable, rather than as a rude foreigner.
LANGUAGE
Oh yeah, you might want to speak it. Elvish, aka Sperethiel, is the national language. Many of the elves there are from some part of America That Was, though, so if you speak English you can probably get by. Most Tir residents give visiting elves the benefit of the doubt, since not everyone comes from as "Wonderful" a place as the Tir.
BUT WAIT, I'M NOT AN ELF!
Hoo, boy. Why are you in the Tir, then? Right, you're either hiding or someone's paying you to be here. Those are the two best reasons to be in the Tir.
>>>>>(But not the only ones... --Pride)
Well, in that case your situation is different. First, are you in Portland? If so, then you're not too bad off. You'll still find elves turning up their nose at you from time to time, but most of them deal with non-elves on a regular basis. Last count, about 40% of Portland was non-elvish, and that was rising. You'll still get stares though. Learn to deal. And for god's sake, if you're an elf-poser, DON'T let anyone know! Once that gets out, you're done. No one will take you seriously EVER again. Both in the shadows, and in public. Leave the ears at home, fangirl.
>>>>>(But how can anyone deny their true soul? Though this mortal flesh be temporary, what about immortality and truth through past lives? Am I to deny my real nature, just because of petty bigotry? --Elrond)
>>>>>(Daaaaaamn. --BugHunter)
>>>>>(At least he's not a furry. Still, that's pretty sad. --Cricket)
>>>>>(Ignorant breeders. Some of us still remember the Elven holocaust! --Elrond)
>>>>>(Heh, you want an elven holocaust, you come see me. You, me, and whatever weapon you want to bring, Tolkien-boy. --Splatterhouse)
>>>>>(Didn't think so. --Splatterhouse)
If you're NOT in Portland, than you're going to stick out. You WILL be remembered, and sneered at. Expect to face blatant and subtle bigotry, even when the elves in question mean no harm by it. Sadly, the best thing to do is usually grin and bear it. The peace force ALWAYS sides with the elves.
BOYS IN BLUE
And girls, for that matter. Unlike most of the rest of the world, the Tir's police force is government-funded and operated. Which means that they're always under-budget and lacking the personnel they need to really keep a handle on things.
>>>>>(Hooray! --Ann Arky)
Don't think this makes them easier to deal with, though. They have a bunch of advantages that Lone Star and Knight Errant don't.
>>>>>(Boo! --Ann Arky)
The Police in the Tir are called the Peace Force. Their uniforms are blue and white, as are their cars. Their lights are red, just red. Keep that in mind if you import a police car and try to be clever. They typically carry light weapons,
>>>>>(Hooray! --Ann Arky)
but have access to magic, heavy weapons, adept support, and even the military if they hit strong enough resistance.
>>>>>(Boo! --Ann Arky)
Killing them is a BAD idea.
>>>>>(REALLY BOO! --Ann Arky)
>>>>>(Thanks. Until today, I've always wondered about the limit of metahuman stupidity. But now after reading your posts, I know for sure. --Darkstar.)
>>>>>(STFU, NOOB! I CRAP BIGGER THINGS THAN YOU[1.4 mp deleted by moderator] --Ann Arky)
>>>>>(Banned, one year. Sarcasm is okay, page-long rants on how you're going to defenestrate a board member is bad. --Fastjack)
Even putting one in the hospital draws the wrath of all of them. And unlike privately-funded police, they don't stop coming after you once it becomes cost-inefficient.
Their main strengths are as follows;
1. NO EXTRATERRITORIALITY: In most of the world, corps have extraterritoriality. That is, corporation law applies on corp turf. Each corporation's holdings are treated as different countries. This stops regular police like Lone Star from pursuing or arresting criminals on corp turf.
>>>>>(Not that this always stops them. If there's no corp types watching, then sometimes the cops can do their job. --Darkstar)
What this means, is that they can go anywhere. Furthermore, since only the nobles in the Tir own land, the cops can search most private buildings as well, without a warrant. They do have to show ID, but asking to see it is sometimes a good way to "resist arrest".
2. NO RIGHTS: Residents of the Tir don't have rights, they have privileges.
And the peace force can lift certain privileges at will, like the privilege
of not being arrested and jailed. The cops used to be big on "disappearing"
people who liked to point out the fascism inherent in the system, but recent
reforms have made that much less popular.
>>>>>(Go, Hestaby! --Brightmorn)
>>>>>(Heh. You really think she pushed that through out of the goodness of her heart? --Dragonslayer)
>>>>>(It wasn't just her. Even Surehand and a few of his supporters spoke out in favor of it. Zincan ended up being the final vote on that, too, even though he caught some flack down the road. --DeepThroat)
>>>>>(That was good, to FINALLY see an orc get to make a difference in politics. --Hellscream)
>>>>>(Yeah. It was a pretty good dog-and-pony show. --Keynesian Kid)
>>>>>(What? You mean that was staged? --Hellscream)
>>>>>(Oooh, a young'un! Welcome to the shadows, kid. Try not to die on your first run. --Envy)
What this also means, is that you are in trouble if you get into a Tir prison. They'll torture you or use drugs, if they think you know something useful. Best you can hope for is they'll keep you for a few years, rather than life. If you go into prison, you better know a noble to bribe, or have some good friends to spring you loose, or both.
3. INFORMATION NETWORK: This applies mainly to runners coming from Seattle, as most of you other types already know about larger nations. The cops in the Tir share information among each other. What happens in Portland gets reported in Salem, and vice-versa. This means that they're quicker to figure things out on average, than the private cops.
>>>>>(They're pretty sharp, too. Knew a detective in the Peace Force, and she used to talk about ongoing cases, after one or two meads. They keep cases open for years, and are pretty patient. If you get up there on the wanted list, then expect them to catch up with you if you stay in the Tir. --Scaramouche)
This also means that they don't post as many internal bounties, due to the efficiency of the cops. They still employ a number of bounty hunters, however, for cases when they're overworked or the target has fled the Tir.
>>>>>(The Peace Force's jurisdiction ends at the Tir borders. Past that, it's up to EI-3. --GhostintheHell)
>>>>>(EI-3? --Captain Crunch)
>>>>>(Essential Investigations, Department 3. And just so you know, they're reading this now. No, I have no way of tracking them, but based on their past performance this was probably up here less than two minutes before they found it. Hell, I probably shaved half-a-minute of their time by mentioning their full name... That kind of thing draws their attention. They are SCARY good. --Exorcist)
4. DNA TESTING: Still legal in the Tir, even though it's been ruled out everywhere else. Part of the reason it's good is because of the low pollutant content throughout the Tir... More chance of getting an uncorrupted sample. Also, if you're not an elf, and they find non-elven DNA at the scene of a crime, then their pool of suspects narrows considerably. Remember, 80% of the Tir is elvish.
Even so, this doesn't get hauled out too often. DNA testing can be faked, and anymore you need a large amount to prove anything. My advice is to carry a few household cleaners, and make sure to contaminate any large pools of blood that your friends leave around. And pick up any hands or feet that get blown off, before you leave the scene.
At any rate, those four things are some of the downsides of running afoul of the Peace Force. There are a few advantages, however.
1. OVERWORKED...: Due to budget cutbacks, the Peace Force has had to lay off a good portion of its staff. Between that and duties such as manning the checkpoints in and out of Portland, and patrolling the highways, they're never around when they're most needed. Response time on a call is typically 5+ minutes. This is a little less in known hotspots, so don't rely on it. If the Rinelle's blowing up Portland again or they have enough advance warning, expect the response time to drop to a minute or less.
>>>>>(Daaaamn. I can do a lot in 5 minutes. --Wreckingball)
2. ...AND UNDERPAID: Just like anywhere else, being a cop is not a glorious job. It's not a prosperous one, either. All of the cops are gentry,
>>>>>(Which is a nicer term for commoner, aka non-nobility --Gil-Galaad)
and with taxes as high as they are, they're always looking for a little supplemental income. Corruption is not hard to find. Mind you, you have to be subtle about it, and usually they have to like you, but you CAN bribe the average officer on the street. Other favors are sometimes accepted, as well.
>>>>>(The stories I could tell... --Lust)
>>>>>(Oh, give it a rest. --Sloth)
This extends to the levels beyond beat cop, too. If you make a friend on the detective level or higher, sometimes you can arrange for evidence to be lost.
>>>>>(Or planted, for that matter. --Cricket)
3. JUST NORMAL FOLKS: Also, the police have one big disadvantage. Most of them have no cyberware and darn few of them have magic.
>>>>>(They save the magicians for backup, sometimes have astral overwatch, but that's about it for the average encounter. --Gil-Galaad)
Hell, with the Tir's strict drug policies, even low-level stuff like jazz is out of the question. Usually. So if you're a Street Samurai, they're easy to drop one-on-one. Remember, this can be good in the short-term, but bad in the long-term. Again, killing them is a BAD idea.
>>>>>(Stick to knocking them out. Gel rounds, the runner's friend. --Darkstar)
As always, this is a mixed advantage. They KNOW they're outclassed against anyone with obvious wired reflexes or big magic, so if you have that kind of stuff and flaunt it, expect them to call in backup. Heavy backup. Maybe even military backup, if there's a group of you.
And that's about it on the topic of cops. Use common sense, stay out of jail, and you should do fine.
DAY-TO-DAY LIFE IN THE TIR
First off, expect to get a fake SIN. You NEED one of these for just about everything in elfland. Even buying food. Get caught without one, and you can expect to be deported,
>>>>>(Not always a bad thing. --Crow)
or disappeared.
>>>>>(Always a bad thing. --Crow)
SINs come in two varieties, Visitor's visas and Tir Resident. It's a case of apples and oranges as to which one's better... Mainly it comes down to observance and consequences. Visitors are more likely to be scrutinized than residents, expect more scanners to be checking your comm if you use one. Residents, not so much. As far as consequences go, Visitors are more likely to be deported than jailed. Residents are only rarely deported.
>>>>>(It's called Exile. --Dancer)
Note that having an electronic SIN isn't enough. If you want to engage in major legal transactions,
>>>>>(Such as making up a will, or legally buying something over 20K, or signing a corporate contract, or trying to rent a commercial property. --The Chromed Accountant)
you need an actual paper document, which contains a copy of your SIN in the watermark. These suckers take time to forge, so make sure to get one well in advance if you have aspirations this way.
And that's all I have to say about SINs. As always, talk to a local fixer if you need one. Even if they can't provide one, they can probably point you toward a good hacker.
As far as living goes, food is a little expensive. The Tir and Aztechnology don't see eye-to-eye, so Aztlan exports no food to them. This has forced them to produce most of their own staples. There are a few imported things, but by and large, most of the brands on the shelf are locally made. A lot of it's at least 40% organic too, so be ready for unfamiliar tastes if you've been raised on soy.
Oh, and all the packages are in Sperethiel, so if you can't read it make sure you know what you're getting. And no, the picture isn't always accurate.
Liquor is kind of limited. Oregon's got a few vineyards, but not enough to keep up with the demand.
>>>>>(We do not drink... Beer. --Gil-Galaad)
>>>>>(Brother! A fellow elven prince, born anew! Truly, the great prophet Tolkien was right. --Elrond)
>>>>>(You shut up and keep the frakk away from me, you pathetic wanna-be. --Gil-Galaad)
One thing that the Tir DOES produce in quantity, is mead. For those of you who don't know, it's basically wine made from honey.
>>>>>(Ooooooh... --Pixie)
It's good stuff, but watch it. It sneaks up on you, I've seen orcs laid low by a mere two bottles.
>>>>>(Sounds like a challenge... --Wreckingball)
It's also impossible to find anywhere outside the Tir. The reason for this escapes me, since it'd make a great export.
>>>>>(It would. And the fact that it's not, is a sign that there's something here beyond the economics. I smell shadow-business, for anyone who wants to look into this. --Keynesian Kid)
Oh, and the legal drinking age is 30.
>>>>>(WHAT? --Hellscream)
It's part of that whole elvish long-lifespan deal, or so they claim. At any
rate, this is not observed much in Portland, but be careful in other places.
Of course, in most other places they won't even serve non-elves, or give you
so much polite malice that you don't want to drink there anyway. Or call the
cops on you.
ACCOMODATIONS: Ray of sunshine here... The Tir has a fairly low population, at least compared to the mega-sprawls. As such, there's plenty of room to spread out. For those of you from Japan or Seattle, space is fairly cheap, all things considered. The downside, and it's pretty big, is that the nobility owns most of the best places already. So you've got pretty good accomodations on the lower end, but limited choice the higher you get.
Rental is fairly cheap, which is good as other things like utilities and food are not. In the end, it usually balances out.
Word of warning... A lot of the buildings in Portland, Salem, and the other big cities are fairly old. The elves prefer to find ways to preserve old buildings, rather than tear down old ones and build anew. This means that security is a concern... Hell, some of the old houses are still wood!
>>>>>(I like wood. Makes smash-n'-grabs easy. I can go through it like a, well... --Wreckingball)
Oh, be aware that the Tir has few hotels, on the whole. And almost none outside the cities. If you decide to go camping, stay well to established rest-stops. The wild-life is pretty scary. As in, a high-percentage of it is awakened, scary.
(Like Unicorns? That'd be nice. --GUIGal)
(Yeah, I've never had Unicorn-burgers before. --Hellscream)
(Sorry mate, more like Piasma. Those things are common up in the mountains, there. Stroppy critters, too. --Crochunter)
(Piasma? --Wreckingball)
(Like a grizzly bear, only bigger. Oh, and with magic powers and magic resistant. --Crow)
(Fraaaaaak. Hm, I wonder how one of those would do against a queen. --Bughunter)
(I'd rather not find out, dear. --Lust)
TRAVEL IN THE TIR
Travel in the Tir can be pretty tricky. There are a lot of mountains and hills, and a lot of parts are fairly unsettled. Make sure that you've got plenty of gas, especially if you're carrying any cargo that a ranger patrol might find "Questionable."
Travel by air's usually a better way to go... The main airport's in Portland, but there are plenty of private fields scattered around. Sometimes you can rent a private craft, if the proprietors trust you. But in that case, make sure that you've got either one hell of a stealth capability, or damn-near-real authorization codes. The Tir gets touchy about their airspace.
>>>>>(They don't monitor it as much as they used to, though. Their sensor net is almost a decade behind the curve. Also, they don't have the air force they used to. Just stay away from Crater Lake and you'll probably be fine.)
>>>>>(Crater Lake? --Cricket)
>>>>>(Read before you post, dammit. It's further down. --Wrath)
Anyway, make sure that you've got plenty of gas if you're driving. It's pretty wild in parts. Look out for closed roads, too... With the population reduced, a lot of it's been left to go back to nature.
Route 5's the main artery of the Tir. Route 85 is sometimes useful, but only if you're in the east. Not much over that way.
>>>>>(You'd be surprised. --Crow)
To the north, you've got Astoria, and Portland. Just south of Portland is Salem, that's the capital. South of there is Eugene. Beyond that is a few small towns, and the Tir-California neutral buffer zone.
>>>>>(Hestaby's stomping grounds. Stay clear if you're smart, word is she likes hunting on her turf. --Dragonslayer)
As far as borders go, the North is the heaviest. The Salish-Sidhe haven't forgotten that the Tir seceded way back when, and old grudges die hard. The East is a little softer, but has heavy astral patrols, typically spirits and projecting magicians. Also, the wildlife tends to eat the unwary over there.
The South is the softest... Hestaby claims a huge chunk of land around Mt. Shasta, and lets itinerants come and go as they please from California. She doesn't seem to do much to stop people from going north, either.
>>>>>(Of course not. She has to make sure she's got a steady flow of game. --Dragonslayer)
>>>>>(Oh, give it a rest. You hate dragons, we get it, already! --GUIGal)
This doesn't mean that it's defenseless. The TDF patrols the border of the buffer zone, and all the main roads. It's possible to dodge them, but if you want to jaunt down south and don't have authorization for it, it's better to hit the wilderness for the actual crossing.
>>>>>(No lie. And they watch the roads for about ten miles north, so make sure to leave them at 20 or so. Minimum. --Crow)
The coast... Is actually pretty lightly guarded. They used to have a pretty good navy, but a lot of boats have been decommissioned. It's probably the best approach for entering the Tir. The thing to watch out for is shore patrols, which are a lot more common than ships. Still, the shore patrol is rumored to be worse than the Peace Force at taking bribes, and looking the other way from smugglers. Expect to pay for the privilige, but usually you can buy a few minutes of ignorance if you get found.
If you're heading through the central south of the Tir (Well east of route 5,) then watch out. There's a place called Crater Lake that went nuts in the 50's. I don't know what all happened down there, but the military has had the place locked down ever since. We're talking air coverage, ground patrols, even a few nasty laser-devices used to blind curious satellites. They do NOT want anyone down there, and they will NOT take "I was just going camping" as a valid excuse.
If you ever find out what's down there... Don't tell me and don't post it. If they go through that much trouble to hide it, then you're probably risking your own life, and the life of others if you blab it on a around.
>>>>>(Finally, someone with sense. Maybe there's hope for the world after all... --The Laughing Man)
>>>>>(There's always hope. We're still here, aren't we? --The Orange Queen)
>>>>>(Not for lack of trying, wyrm. Wondered when you would show up here... --Dragonslayer)
>>>>>(I believe that the phrase I'm looking for is, "LOL". --The Orange Queen)
Again, the lack of hotels in most non-major cities tends to slow down travelers. Expect to sleep in your vehicles, if you're not elves. There are bed and breakfast setups, geared toward Tir residents on holiday, but the owners have the privilege of refusing rooms to whomever they wish to exclude. Which is all right, as most of their beds are built for elves anyway.
>>>>>(Good for humans and dwarves, too. But a little light for any heavy use. --Lust)
THE TIR UNDERWORLD
I'd love to write more about this, but the situation's kind of in flux. And some folks probably don't want me to go into too much detail, which is fine. It's the summer of '69 as I type these words, and who knows where it will end up. Here are the players that I know.
THE ANCIENTS: Yep, the famous elf go-gang that gets all the press in Seattle has a Tir chapter. In fact, they started out here. The Seattle chapter came after, but everyone tends to forget that.
It's hard to tell how many people they have. Mainly that's because they're some of the more frequent border crossers... They maintain a few squeaky-clean members with real SINs to relay communications back and forth from Salish to Seattle to the Tir, and occasionally do higher-ups in the Tir government a few favors, so they look the other way. It's an open secret that the Peace Force tolerates the Ancients as long as they don't make too much noise, and avoid picking fights with other elves.
>>>>>(EI3 keeps a mix of operatives in the Ancients, it's a standard first field assignment for new agents. They rotate them so that they don't get too attached, but a few end up defecting into the underworld. Most of these people end up either exiled or in Seattle, or both. Stay away from them, they're usually haunted. --GhostintheHell)
>>>>>(Haunted? --Hellscream)
>>>>>(Our friend means that the fallen agents from EI3 usually end up with Ghosts after them. Ghosts are the name for a class of the Tir's agents who specialize in infiltration, assassination, and covert ops. Usually cybered to the gills, and trained to an insane regimen. Some of them are almost as good as me. --Pride)
The Ancients also act as coyotes and amateur smugglers. They're one of the biggest proponents of the coastal BTL trade from Cal-free to Seattle, and points in between. Again, the Peace Force tends to look the other way as long as they don't sell to elves. Except for Portland, where the Ancients feel strong enough to sell to whoever they please.
>>>>>(Amateurs. Don't ever use them to cross the border, unless you want ever cop and soldier in the place to know you're coming. If they don't like you, then they have no problems with taking your money, turning you over for a rich bounty if you're worth something, and selling your hardware to a Portland fixer. --Crow)
>>>>>(Ama'es te rotheal, destra'ga norrame! --Gil-Galaad)
>>>>>(Nope, I ain't a lying sack of troll dung. I've seen it done, and many times. Lost a good friend that way, when he got stupid and desperate. On the upside, you twerps drive many people to the sensible act of hiring experienced smugglers. Thanks for the business, rookie. --Crow)
There are other gangs, but most of them tend to be locals to a particular area, or have highly volatile rosters. There are the Witches of Salem, an all-female gang. Portland's got its share, from the all-orc-and-troll Red Rage to the mixed bunch called the Unbound. All of them are fairly small, and most of them lay low when the Ancients are rolling through. The Peace Force doesn't like them so much, and you see them getting busted on the trid, whenever the cops need to give their approval ratings a boost.
THE DARK CIRCLES: Heh. This used to be a name for a loosely-affiliated bunch
of occult groups that tried to play in the underworld. That worked pretty well
for a while, they drove the mafia out, and that took some doing. Then in 2059,
the borders of the Tir unsealed, and the Council started courting mega-corps...
And by proxy, the rest of the world. The smart members of the circles joined
with other groups or called it quits, since the dumb ones died messily. Rumor
is that a lot of 'em ended up in the Syndicate. I'll get to that bunch next.
For now, it's enough to know that the Dark Circles are no longer around.
THE SYNDICATE: No one's quite sure just what's going on here, but one thing's
for certain. Smuggling, extortion, protection, assassination, the Syndicate
has its fingers in a large number of pies. You hear people whispering about
it in back-rooms, and over secure lines. A lot of people think it's a myth.
Me, I remember an old movie, with one of my favorite lines; "The Greatest
Trick the devil ever pulled, was making people think he didn't exist."
These guys are so scary, because they work subtle. SCARY subtle. And they've got some form of mind control that doesn't leave any magical traces.
For instance, the Peace Force has occasionally caught people running packages, or doing wetwork that seems to be for the benefit of syndicate. In all cases, these people denied all knowledge of their employers/organization. And in all cases, these people died or disappeared within a few days of being arrested, one way or another. A lot of these people are folks you wouldn't expect to be doing the things they do... But yet, you find middle-aged housewives carrying grenades in their purse and delivering them to agents of foreign powers, you find college students running over city officials with the SUVs that daddy bought them, and you find government officials blackmailing their bosses, with photos gained from unknown sources. No one's even sure that it's named "The Syndicate"! That's just a name that's been bandied about on the boards...
There is one common thread in all cases, and it's a rumor. A hacker friend of mine got into a detective's case file, and found that the last four suspected members of the Syndicate all had on them a black commlink, emblazoned with a red X.
Yet when a runner team hit the evidence locker a day later, they found nothing there, and slightly edited files that denied anything. Gone. Either it was a honeypot for the hacker, or the Syndicate's reach is deep indeed.
>>>>>(HEY! I've seen one of those! Some elf kid had one on his belt in Seattle a while back. --Mane man)
>>>>>(Might be worth some serious cred. I know a few people who are REAL interested in the Syndicate. That kid still around? --Greed)
>>>>>(Don't know. I came up against him in a casino extraction operation, and we threw down. Got him good, but the sucker stunbolted me through a wall. My backup team told me they dropped him with gel rounds... Not sure if he died, they aborted the op after I fell.)
>>>>>(Sounds like we got a nice little money-making opp. Keep an eye out for red-X comms, folks! --Cricket)
RINELLE KE'TESRAE: Hoo boy. There's a considerable amount of argument between
whether or not these folks are terrorists, rebels, or criminals... Or all of
the above. My take on it is that I don't care about Tir politics, but you're
likely to run into them in the shadows. So you probably need to know about them.
>>>>>(Their money's as good as any. Not that I'd know personally... Yet. --Greed)
They surfaced in '57, after Dunkelzahn was assassinated and the Tir closed its borders for what would turn into a couple of years of isolation. Their name's Sperethiel, a weird form of it. Best agreement I could find on its translation is "Brotherhood of the Spire." Something about that name's got the High Princes worried... They overreacted, and tried to cover it up. Did so bad a job of it, that everyone could tell there was some secret there.
The Rinelle want a lot of things... The abolishment of noble privileges, equal voice for all in the government, open trade with the rest of the world, a republic rather than a feudal political system, and a few more things that seem kind of silly. A moratorium on cyberware research? Dedicated cleansing of astral space? War declared on Aztlan? Whatever. To this end, they're blowing up parts of Portland, usually the remains of the wall around it. It's symbolic, really. Occasionally they try to assassinate people they dub criminals to elvenkind, or sabotage military equipment, but that's about it so far.
In return, they get disappeared as fast as they're found, and the police err on the side of the nightstick. Even an anonymous tip from an informer is enough to land an entirely innocent person in jail for a week, or more.
The Tir government's been fighting them for over a decade, and hasn't made much progress. But, neither has the Rinelle, from what I can see. Unless something tips the balance, I imagine this'll go on for a while.
Like the Syndicate, no one's really sure who's in charge.
>>>>>(My guess is that it's a typical resistance cell structure, but the leaders are good at covering their tracks. I'm staying out of this conflict, not that the Tir uses mercenaries much anyway. --Matador)
>>>>>(Not tempted to work for the Rinelle? Seems like their goals are pretty laudable. --Cricket)
>>>>>(They couldn't afford me. Looking at their setup, I imagine they've got a huge problem with funding. If they're not running on a shoestring after ten years of fighting, then I'll be surprised. --Matador)
>>>>>(Of course, if our good bullfighter WAS going to work for them, then he'd hardly mention it here. Almost goes without saying. --GUIGal)
>>>>>(I'm not so sure they're broke, either. For this movement to last almost a decade, they've got to have backing from another faction. If I gambled, my money would be on a megacorp or two. --The Chromed Accountant)
OTHER ORGANIZED CRIME GROUPS: There are no other major underworld groups in the Tir right now, though that could change at any time. The Triads and Yakuza have been eyeing each other, waiting for their counterparts to move resources into Elfland, so they're currently stalemated. The Ancients, unlike other traditional street gangs, don't play well with others. So there's another barrier right there. The Vory has met some success, but it's pretty limited. Russians employ relatively few elves, on the whole.
>>>>>(The frakkin' Vory run a brisk slave trade in elves, so not too many of this metatype make it big in the russian mob. You can guess how well this goes over in the Tir. --Viceversa)
>>>>>(Not all of the Vory groups do this. It's mainly those Ukrainian Pig-Frakkers, and the Ceausceu bastards. --DasVidanya)
>>>>>(Yeah, but they don't do anything to stop it, either. So, best to err on the side of heavy-calibre slugs. --Darkstar)
The mafia's long gone, and the various NAN syndicates tend to hate the Tir. So, no real movement there. Still, like I said, this could change. The police have been stretched more-and-more, lately...
VIRTUAL TIR TAIRNGIRE
I don't know much about hacking, but I'll pass on what I can figure out from common sense.
The second big crash hit when the Tir was just starting to recover from their initial recession. It ushered in a new recession, that hasn't let up yet. It fried servers, toasted satellites, and screwed banks up across the continent.
Having no megacorps to backup their comm network, the Tir had to foot the entire repair bill themselves. Add in new costs for wireless conversion, and you've got a whole lotta budgets in the red...
Money's gotta come from somewhere, and I think they're still trying to scrape it together. The Tir used to be a haven of ultra-red security, black ice glaciers and brain-dead zones, but now? Now I think they're lucky if they have ICE at all.
Doesn't mean it's open field, but you probably won't be walking through the minefield you would've 7 years ago.
>>>>>(He's right... To a point. Most of the commercial systems are easy to waltz into, and some of the more public stuff like the DMV and Gentry medical records, are easy to get around. The military and government... That's another story. They keep most of that stuff hardwired, and the ICE on there might be old, but it's still as nasty as it used to be. And as usual, trying to hack the phone company is a last resort. --GUIGal)
>>>>>(Also, watch out if you end up trying to get into private systems. Depending on who it is, they might have their own security that's better than the public stuff. --ButchersBill)
MYSTICAL TIR TAIRNGIRE
This is one of the Tir's strengths. Don't know what it is, but a high percentage of elves have a knack for magic.
>>>>>(It's because we're cute. Magic wwwuvs us! ^_^ --Pixie)
>>>>>(Please don't ever do that again. --Gil-Galaad)
It could be because Tir society encourages magic more than just about any other out there. Could also be because the Tir's reasonably pollutant free... From what my buddy Arcane tells me, that stuff tends to screw up astral space. And that somehow is bad for magic development.
>>>>>Sucking down poison on a daily basis is bad for LIFE. And magic needs life to work. --The Outsider)
Also, all the clean land around there tends to be like fertilizer for something called Telesma. This stuff is a smuggler's dream, and sells great in more industrialized places like oh, the CAS and UCAS.
>>>>>(Telesma is specially harvested, untainted ingredients that mages use to make foci, perform rituals, and bind spirits. It's stuff like pieces of para-animals, certain herbs, specially processed metals... In all cases, the materials need to be unpolluted, unsullied by modern and mundane taint. --Elrond)
>>>>>(It's a bit more than that, in case anyone's getting a yen to go hunting. Telesma also has to be harvested carefully, depending on what it is. So don't go killing unicorns for their horns, bad idea! You need a special knife to carve them off, and you need a few other things or else it's a bad harvest, and the stuff is near-useless. So basically, don't go gathering the stuff unless you either know what you're doing, or your client was VERY specific. --Cricket)
>>>>>(Crikey, I don't see why anyone WOULD go after a unicorn. Beut creatures, and pretty strong, too. Get to close to one and it'll skewer you in a heartbeat, those horns can pierce armored vests like it was paper! Deadly... --Crochunter)
The big payoff comes when you look at prices for new spells. Across the Tir, prices are roughly 75% that of the market elsewhere. It's a GREAT place to pick up a few new tricks. But Arcane tells me that the government tracks the formulae of a lot of the more combat-applicable spells. Some of them even require that the mage donate a lock of hair, or other marker to the peace force, just in case they end up using it for illegal purposes.
>>>>>(This is bad. They find traces of your spell formula someplace in a bad way, as a last resort they can fire up the ritual magic and fry you from half a world away. Or curse you until you turn yourself in, basically make you their slitch. So keep your hair out of their hands! --Cricket)
>>>>>(This is a good idea anywhere you go. England has the same policy, but harsher. If you're a mage at all there, you have to register and leave a sample with the right bureau. --Sepstalker)
Obvious solution? Acquire the stuff illegally. Just make sure your source can be trusted.
Oh, and there's some deal with spirits. Like most other first-world nations they have bounties on blood mages, toxic shamans, and insect-spirit shamans, but they also restrict what type of spirits can be summoned. Basically, you have to get a permit and notify the Peace Force if you're summoning anything too big. I'm not sure what the cutoff point is, but Arcane says that if you're trying to call a Great form, they WILL notice, and they WILL come after you for it.
>>>>>(Blood mage? --Hellscream)
>>>>>(The practice of fueling your magic with the sacrifice of living creatures or people. Contemptible, yet effective. Its practitioners deserve no mercy. --Hecate)
>>>>>(That's pretty ironic, coming from you. I seem to recall some mercy heading your direction, after your thorny little problem was over and done with. --The Laughing Man)
>>>>>(Watch it. --Wordsmith)
As a final note on magic, wards are a pretty common thing in the Tir. A lot of mages, equals a lot of people concerned about privacy, and a lot of astral traffic. Watch your back and keep your secrets warded if you can, because you never know who or what's out there.
Oh, and stay away from Crater Lake. Arcane tried to buzz it in the astral once, and hasn't been the same since.
>>>>>(Don't risk it. IT can see your magic. IT is hungry. --Arcane)
MEDICAL CARE
Good news is that medical care is free to Tir Tairngire residents. Bad news is that they scan your SIN veeeerrry carefully, and report gunshot wounds and other suspicious problems to the Peace Force. There is a limited Docwagon presence here, but their rates are so high usually it's only the nobles that can afford them. (Expect at least double the price, more if you're on a visitor's visa.) Street docs are rarer here, too. The Tir medical union goes after them with a vengeance.
>>>>>(If you find a good one, go out of your way to help them with supplies and watch her back. ESPECIALLY if you are a street sam. Cybersurgeons are rare in the Tir, at least outside of the black ops clinics that the government runs. --Chromehound)
Of course, magical healing is a little easier to find. With the economy down as it is, a lot of mages are happy to do a little holistic therapy on the side. It won't fix all ills, but if your buddy needs work NOW, it's better than nothing.
IN CONCLUSION
The Tir's an interesting place, but I wouldn't want to live there, me being not-elvish and all.
>>>>>(So what is Fodor again? --Wrath)
>>>>>(Interested in keeping his anonymity. Or hers, for that matter --Cricket)
>>>>>(Heh, let's see about that. 20 thousand to anyone who outs Fodor! --Greed)
>>>>>(I don't think so. Fastjack? --Cricket)
>>>>>(Cricket's right. This is neutral ground, you want to work against another board member, you do it on someone else's webspace. Just a friendly warning, Sins. --Fastjack)
>>>>(Sorry about the girls, just a little joke. Won't happen again. --Sloth)
The risks are high, but the rewards can be worth it. There's some big leagues, and some useful contacts down here. And it's a good place to go to ground, if you can play it subtle and quiet.
I'm curious as to how it'll turn out, but in the end I can't stick around to see. Guess I'll see the public version on the news, when things come crashing down.
Until then, this is Fodor signing off. Keep on truckin'!