So... Whatever happened to Lars J. Matthews?, Remember, never deal with a dragon. Options

[Vegetaman]

Sort of an off the wall question, and kind of out of the blue, but... Whatever happened to Lars J. Matthews? (The guy mentioned in Dunkelzahn's will). Or did that story piece never get wrapped up?

From: Dunkelzahn's Will
For a period of ten days beginning on 14 February 2057, Lars J. Matthews will cease to possess any legal status. He will be stripped of all evidence of legal existence, including SIN, credsticks, DocWagon contract, bank accounts and so on. To the individual or group who ends Lars J. Matthews’ physical existence during those ten days, I leave all of Matthews’ assets and 1 million nuyen for a job well done. If Mr. Matthews survives and can prove his identity, his legal status and all possessions will be restored to him. Haven’t you heard? Never deal with a dragon, Lars.

[Ancient History]

Working at an elven titty bar in Tarislar...as one of the dancers...and not by choice.

[Vegetaman]

Working at an elven titty bar in Tarislar...as one of the dancers...and not by choice.

Well... It's a living. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[Ancient History]

That's what happened in my campaign anyway. Y'all's may have ended up a might different.

[Vegetaman]

That's what happened in my campaign anyway. Y'all's may have ended up a might different.

The best part would be not only the hunt for him and killing him, but the insane amount of fighting to keep possession of the body and claiming the reward. A good campaign could be made around that ten day span.

[Synner667]

Since I don't have my rulebooks and sourcebooks with me, so can't trawl for the answer [spotlight searching PDFs makes life so easy]...
...Who was Lars J Matthews, and why did The Big D want to punish him ??

[Ol' Scratch]

And, almost as important, how did he expect to have his identity completely wiped like that? Especially since he all but announced it publically, making it blatantly illegal in every conceivable way? Seriously. Even if he was the President, you can't just wipe away someone's identity so you can kill and torture him to your delight and definitely not after broadcasting that you're going to do that very thing to everyone the world over.

[FlashbackJon]

The best part would be not only the hunt for him and killing him, but the insane amount of fighting to keep possession of the body and claiming the reward. A good campaign could be made around that ten day span.

More interestingly might be the time between Dunk's death and that ten day span. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

And, almost as important, how did he expect to have his identity completely wiped like that? Especially since he all but announced it publically, making it blatantly illegal in every conceivable way? Seriously. Even if he was the President, you can't just wipe away someone's identity so you can kill and torture him to your delight and definitely not after broadcasting that you're going to do that very thing to everyone the world over.

Who's going to arrest a Great Dragon's vaporized corpse?

[Dumori]

Who's going to arrest a Great Dragon's vaporized corpse?

I high powered group of mages as hes in some metaplane some place waiting to enact a cunning plan.

[Ol' Scratch]

Who's going to arrest a Great Dragon's vaporized corpse?

Who said anything about that? Someone has to erase the SIN, lots of someones have to pretend that they don't know anything about it, and lots and lots of someones have to pretend they never even heard of the will for it work. And if the Draco Foundation honored it, they'd be liable for all kinds of things, too, including flat-out premeditated murder.

[FlashbackJon]

Really? I highly doubt that Dunk's plan involved lots and lots of people. I highly doubt that any more than a handful of people at most were involved in the entire process, and it was probably rigged to occur without any impetus on behalf of any guilty party. While your point about the Draco Foundation is valid, I'm sure our conspiracy-laden dragon president had arrangements made for this to actually occur without intervention, honestly.

If there is one sapient on the planet that was capable of publicly announcing "I'm going to pay someone to kill someone", the Big D is it.

[Naysayer]

If there is one sapient on the planet that was capable of publicly announcing "I'm going to pay someone to kill someone", the Big D is it.

As opposed to Lofwyr, who doesn't need to bother with puny announments...

[FlashbackJon]

Precisely.

...or something.

[Gast]

The question is, implications of law aside, if your SIN suddenly stops to work and all your assets get frozen, which I assume happened upon disclosure of the testament - would you go to ANYONE and complain that you are the guy with 1.000 K nuyen and all his assets on his head?

[Athanatos]

Yes, if there's one thing i've noticed about old Dunky, it's his total dedication to the full letter of the law lol! I mean he'd definatelybe afraid they'd incarcerate his rather vast incinerated corpse, what with his sacrificing himself to empower the Dragon's Heart and patrol a very gods-forsaken metaplane to protect the Earth!


"Hello, my name is John Q Target, worth more dead than you'll make in a very long time." "PS, when I had an identity, I was enough of an asshole to make it into Big D's Will as an item on a hitlist. Where do I find the records department to straighten this out?"


"Big D died for our sins, and now you can too. Join the COD Crusade, and follow the path of our 'Savior'!"

[Ol' Scratch]

Oy.

Look, -everyone- who sees that will -knows- what's going to happen. They -know- he's ILLEGALLY going to have his SIN erased. They -know- he's ILLEGALLY going to have his accounts frozen. They -know- that it's ILLEGAL. In every sense of the word. Law enforcement, government officials, EVERYONE who reads it will know. Thus they will ALL have to be a part of the conspiracy by letting it happen. Every. Single. One. Of them. And they will have to stand by and do nothing in order for it work, which is criminal in and of itself.

Lars should have been in full protective custody and ANYONE who tried to claim the reward and ANYONE who gave the reward should have their heads rolling. And since the Draco Foundation is responsible for it, they should have lawyers, government agents, and everything else you can imagine crawling all over them about it even if Lars didn't even get a scratch during the ordeal.

[Abschalten]

We could always just attribute it to bad writing that wasn't thought all the way through and then move on. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Fuchs]

Unless of course Lars' SIN was a fake to begin with, and D just arranged to have proof of that, and of crimes that will cause any law enforcement agency to freeze the suspects assets, delivered to the authorities. And maybe have a presidental pardon arranged after the 10 days.

"Hey, this Lars is actually Kane! Get him!"

[Vegetaman]

Unless of course Lars' SIN was a fake to begin with, and D just arranged to have proof of that, and of crimes that will cause any law enforcement agency to freeze the suspects assets, delivered to the authorities. And maybe have a presidental pardon arranged after the 10 days.

"Hey, this Lars is actually Kane! Get him!"

Now, I actually like this.

Still, more backstory would be nice. I've never run across this guy anywhere else. But still... To incur someone's wrath in their Will rather than having them (the them being a very powerful dragon with many powerful friends) just leave you as a smoking corpse is... Well, interesting.

[CanRay]

Dunkie was "One of ours" as Captain Chaos put it, and had sent his Last Will and Testiment to the ShadowLand BBS to make sure an unedited copy went out. (I'm sure CC only cut out the legalese BS for the Infoburst, and you can read it at your own leasure on the primary, Read-Only, ICed five metres thick file! Damn Ka-Pow Ka-Pow ShadowTeens and they're lack of attention span... OH SHINY!).

As for making someone a non-citizen... "If the President does it, it's not illegal" after all. ("That's a joke, by the way.").

What did he do to earn the ire of Dunkie, one of the, if not THE most powerful dragon in the world at the time?

Could be anything and everything.

And, of course, be careful what you wish for.

BTW, I have one character in backstory that's a Dragon Lotto Winner... And what he wished for... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/vegm.gif)

[the_real_elwood]

Yeah, but dragons are so powerful (even after they're deceased) that their word is essentially law. I mean, look what Ghostwalker did in Denver, he basically strolled in, told everyone that he owned the place, and everyone else agreed. I don't see why Dunkelzahn couldn't have arranged for some shadowrunners to erase any evidence of Lars J. Matthews. I mean, lots of people fall through the cracks, and if the shadowrunners do it right, this guy's information wouldn't be any different.

[hobgoblin]

Oy.

Look, -everyone- who sees that will -knows- what's going to happen. They -know- he's ILLEGALLY going to have his SIN erased. They -know- he's ILLEGALLY going to have his accounts frozen. They -know- that it's ILLEGAL. In every sense of the word. Law enforcement, government officials, EVERYONE who reads it will know. Thus they will ALL have to be a part of the conspiracy by letting it happen. Every. Single. One. Of them. And they will have to stand by and do nothing in order for it work, which is criminal in and of itself.

Lars should have been in full protective custody and ANYONE who tried to claim the reward and ANYONE who gave the reward should have their heads rolling. And since the Draco Foundation is responsible for it, they should have lawyers, government agents, and everything else you can imagine crawling all over them about it even if Lars didn't even get a scratch during the ordeal.

look up dystopia. the cops dont care, or care just enough to get payed (by the highest bidder, not the government exclusively). also, the name could maybe cover some 1000+ individuals in ucas alone. and i suspect the old dragons will had a global reach...

[Sir_Psycho]

If a decker, so good to be worthy of Dunkelzahn's payroll, wanted to erase every single trace of Lars J. Mathews from the Matrix, he could. Lars knows people are gunning for him, and because their is no mugshot, no SIN, no address, no job to track him down with, I'm pretty sure that the hitters are going to find him first, and he's surely not going to stick around. He probably got himself some money of his own and hired a team to protect him and smuggle him away.

Also, of course we don't know who he is. Dunkelzahn's will was a metaplot tool to spark ideas for imaginative gamemasters, it was not full of well-realised watertight runs. Lars J. Mathews could be who-ever you wanted him to be, and Dunkelzahn could want him punished for anything.

[Synner667]

If a decker, so good to be worthy of Dunkelzahn's payroll, wanted to erase every single trace of Lars J. Mathews from the Matrix, he could. Lars knows people are gunning for him, and because their is no mugshot, no SIN, no address, no job to track him down with, I'm pretty sure that the hitters are going to find him first, and he's surely not going to stick around. He probably got himself some money of his own and hired a team to protect him and smuggle him away.

Also, of course we don't know who he is. Dunkelzahn's will was a metaplot tool to spark ideas for imaginative gamemasters, it was not full of well-realised watertight runs. Lars J. Mathews could be who-ever you wanted him to be, and Dunkelzahn could want him punished for anything.

Like our good friend Leonardo, with the optical decking technology ?? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Hmmm...


Shame SR v4 seems pretty intent on killing anything like that off (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

[Ol' Scratch]

<sigh>

Look at it this way. If publically and openly erasing someone's SIN was as easy as declaring it to be, that means it could happen to you, too. There wouldn't be any point in having a SIN, in fact, as your legal status as a citizen could be taken from you at someone's whim with zero reprecussion. Every single citizen could have every single right removed from them. All those rich people. All those lawyers. All those government officials. Everyone. Do you really think that would go by without reprecussion? If a single politician allowed it to happen, impeachment trials would run rampant. There would be rioting. There would likely even be assassinations. And all because some pissy little dragon wanted to teach someone a lesson, too, and apparently a dragon who didn't give a fuck about the country he was trying to become president of no less.

It's the single worst entry in the entire will.