#RPGaDay2018: Day 4 - Most Memorable NPC

There's a lot of NPC's in my current stable of games who are definitely memorable, but hard to say which will prove to be most memorable (though The Emissary's theme song does make him stand out somewhat). Instead of picking any of them, I've reached back through the games I've played, trying to remember NPC's who stand out, and I think I'm going to choose Tark from the ShadowRun game I've recently started writing up. It was a close call between him and Drazen, or possibly Jaz, as it's a good 15 years or more since I played, but I still remember the 3 fondly. I've picked Tark, though, because his death shook me up.

The game had been running for a while when I joined, so the NPC's were already embedded. My character, Kamaya, was a speedfreak adept, making her very similar to Drazen. Tark was a shaman. I think I was the only magic player character, and they were the two magic NPC's who most frequently assisted on runs. Drazen was pretty callous, with a disregard for human life, and it ended up rubbing off on Kamaya (because I was young and impressionable and forgot she'd started out disliking killing), and Tark, with Wolf as his Totem, followed his pack, so most runs were pretty bloody.

It's no spoiler to tell you about Tark's death; it happened long after my notes finish.

Several of the trio's early runs were against Ares, until they ended up with a bit of a reputation as being the runners you wanted on your team if that's who your target was. Of course, this got them onto Ares radar, though I was too young and naive to realise it was a risk. Tark went missing for a while - I assumed he was on some kind of shamanic retreat, so had Kamaya react accordingly and not worry about him. Until he showed up, walking up the stairs of the restaurant/club she'd just bought (I was working to retire the character because she'd become so powerful). Ares had taken him and inserted a cranial bomb that they'd detonate if they didn't come with him.

He refused to let them come with him, and Kamaya was too shocked to argue.

His brains splattered the walls. 

I learnt a lot about the game world, and gaming, and even GM'ing (if I had a young, inexperienced player in the group, I hope I'd give a better indication that she might want to be more suspicious!) Part of me still misses Tark. He was a good mentor for Kamaya, sweet natured beneath it all. 

If you're taking part, don't forget to add a link to your response in the comments :)