Cooler Heads

General Summary

Tongue-Cutter Tom of the Ragers gang had been whipped into a frenzy by the Sons of Sauron, and was now trying to force the California Refugees out of Puyallup via beatings and arson. Gramma Betsy Maplethorne of the Mothers of Metahumans hires the shadowrunners to convince them to end the violence.

The trail sent them throughout ashen waste of Puyallup where they uncovered that Prince Magwyn Laeneshal, crimelord of the elven Mafia known as the Laésa, was trying to gather elven refugees to their dominion within the elven slum of Tarislar. Magwyn may have had a subtle hand in the arson but now wanted the runners to kill the Ragers as they were attracting too much attention.

The runners ran afoul of the elven biker gang, the Ancients, and through of combo hit of intimidation, negotiation and tacos, they left on amiable enough terms and they were told they could find the Ragers back at the burned down Soybucks. Tom and the Ragers were rummaging through the burnt rubble. While the Ragers were guilty of the beatings, they hadn't killed anyone and the fire was an accident. Tom's father used to run a bakery on the same spot, and Tom hoped to find his recipes still hidden in the brickwork. When the fire started, Tom threw the proprietor outside in an attempt to make it look intentional while still saving his life.

Meanwhile, Tom's sins had finally caught up to him, as the Humanis backed gang the Troll Killers had made hostages of the dwarven refugees at the Bishop's Corpse restaurant and hostel. The smuggler Lancer had managed to stall for time by using her drone-copters to make them think Knight Errant had the building surrounded. The runners managed to take out the Troll Killers and save all the hostages, then roped Tom and his lackeys into helping the wounded. Gramma Betsy was more than pleased with this outcome, and rewarded their commitment to non-violence with a nice bonus and an Ash Arms Combat Chainsaw.

Secrets Uncovered

Gramma Betsy's predecessor, Libby, was brutally murdered by Humanis. She is keen on letting them know she won't be an easy target, such as by working with shadowrunners.
Magwyn has been trying to encourage the elven refugees to move to Tarislar, particularly the business owners, in order to gain more "subjects" to exploit within her domain.
The Laésa prefer to manipulate pawns rather than get their own hands dirty. Magwyn may have nudged the Ragers in Merrick's direction so that she could be there to help him in his time of need.
Magwyn keeps a network of bound spirits throughout Puyallup as her eyes and ears.
The Soybucks used to be a Pie Shop run by Tongue-Cutter Tom's father. Pie Shop closed after it couldn't compete with new elven businesses. He blamed an elven conspiracy and Tom grew up listening to racist rhetoric.
While Tom had been roughing up refugees, the fire was an accident after an altercation with Merrick. Tom was looking for his father's pie recipes that he kept hidden in a secret compartment in the basement.