Dragon Civil War, Where is this going? Options

[Stormdrake]

So having read the conspiracy book section on the dragon issues and put it together with other shadowrun material I have to wonder where this is going. Ghostwalker has bugged off back to the astral, Hetsaby is putting herself forward as the defender of metahumanity, Sirrug is toasting humans, and Lofwyr is gathering other traditionalist dragons in response to Hetsaby. You then have the apparent whole sale murder of anyone dealing in dragon telesma with the corresponding disappearance of said items and the apparent confirmation of a dragon egg hatchery on Madagascar. These occurrences and actions raise the following questions for me,

Is ghostwalker going to return?
Has Ghostwalker lost his city for good?
Is Ghostwalker leaving a form of retcon put in because some people had an issue with Denver being taken over by a Great Dragon?
What is Hetsaby's real game as no one in shadowrun who has been portrayed as being altruistic in the past has ever turned out to truly be.
What does Sirrug have against the leaders (of which some are dragons) of Atzlan/Aztechnology?
What is Lofwyr going to do in response to Hetsaby's attacks as doing nothing makes him look weak.
Just how many drakes are running around killing dealers in draconic telesma?
Why a hatchery when the dragon of sixth world explained that clutches were raised by individual dragon parents?

[Wakshaani]

Ghostwalker slipping out of Denver to Do Something ™ isn't a retcon. That would just be silly. When he'll be back is anyone's guess... his last big trip was for ten thousand years. This one could too... or it could end tomorrow. How confident would you feel, if you loved in Denver, about getting up to some shenanigans with taht sword of Damocles over your head? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

As for Lofwyr, well, we'll see, won't we? Can't let those kinds of challenges go unmet in Dragon culture, but, he has a mega to worry about, so how much can he focus? Also, don't judge him in human lifespan activity ... he could let it lay there for a century before slapping back. Dragons take a Looooooong view.

Beyond that? Too early to say.

[Patrick Goodman]

I'm not doing much of anything with this particular plot, though I am chiming in with ideas that might affect it. Don't take any of what I'm about to say as gospel, since I don't know anything for sure. This is my personal speculation.

Is ghostwalker going to return?

It's possible he has already, just not in a particularly spectacular fashion; Spy Games hinted that he was there, just not himself (while released later, Artifacts Unbound actually takes place before Spy Games, if memory serves correctly). Or that could be a ruse. Be that as it may, his major domo seems

Has Ghostwalker lost his city for good?

I'd say that question is a tad premature...but I don't know for sure. Not my baileywick.

Is Ghostwalker leaving a form of retcon put in because some people had an issue with Denver being taken over by a Great Dragon?

Nope.

What is Hetsaby's real game as no one in shadowrun who has been portrayed as being altruistic in the past has ever turned out to truly be.

It might not be altruism, but enlightened self-interest. Dunkie was pretty altruistic, but he had a mean streak; Hestaby taking up his mantle does mean she's gone all squishy. I'm inclined to say that while she's changed some positions, she's still not someone to trifle with, and to think she's gone altruistic is, like an earlier question, just a tad premature.

What does Sirrug have against the leaders (of which some are dragons) of Atzlan/Aztechnology?

Sirrurg's crazy, IMO, and a terrorist by just about anyone's definition. Who says any of his reasoning is at all rational? That said, he could just be wanting people to remember where they are on the overall world stage, and he might just be wanting to return to days of yore where dragons ruled over a less-enlightened people.

My guess is that he's just crazy, though. *shrug*

What is Lofwyr going to do in response to Hetsaby's attacks as doing nothing makes him look weak.

I'd say things are going to get ugly, sooner rather than later.

Just how many drakes are running around killing dealers in draconic telesma?

Enough, I'd say.

Why a hatchery when the dragon of sixth world explained that clutches were raised by individual dragon parents?

Very good question. I can think of a couple reasons, but nothing really worth mentioning at the moment since they're not even to the point of being half-baked.

[Paul]

Sirrurg's crazy, IMO, and a terrorist by just about anyone's definition. Who says any of his reasoning is at all rational? That said, he could just be wanting people to remember where they are on the overall world stage, and he might just be wanting to return to days of yore where dragons ruled over a less-enlightened people.

My guess is that he's just crazy, though. *shrug*

I hope the answer to this one is anything but this: "Sirrug is just crazy!" Anything else I can live with but this would make me pretty unhappy. Hell I'd be happier with no explanation.

[Wakshaani]

Sirrug has plans, and concepts, but shares them rarely even with other dragons. We know he has a supremecist streak and just plain ol' doesn't LIKE the lesser races. He might have a "Let the strongest survive" streak, or he might be Horror-tainted, or he might just really, rrally, REALLY want to take a nap but can't with all these living THINGS making NOISE all the time. If he can find a nice warm place where nothing is alive within ten klicks, he can finally get some shut-eye.

There's *always* a reason. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Paul]

Which is how I see it generally speaking.

[Stormdrake]

Some of the comments attributed to Sirrug seem to indicate that the leaders of Atzlan/Aztechnology have done or are doing something he finds worthy of destruction. However as the Big D referred to Sirrug as "the destroyer" the triggering action could be rather insignificant. On the other hand it could have something to do with the fact that Atzlan is using massive amounts of blood magic and Sirrug is attempting to halt it before something bad occurs.

[CanRay]

"ALL YOU METAHUMANS! GIT OFF MAH LAWN!!!"

[Patrick Goodman]

I hope the answer to this one is anything but this: "Sirrug is just crazy!" Anything else I can live with but this would make me pretty unhappy. Hell I'd be happier with no explanation.

I'm pretty sure there's more to it than that. It's probably just as well I'm not writing this one. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Wakshaani]

I'm curious as to why he moved. You wouldn't think he'd really care about political push-back in Amazonia...

[Udoshi]

"ALL YOU METAHUMANS! GIT OFF MAH LAWN!!!"

"I NEVER METAHUMAN THAT DIDN'T GO WELL WITH BARBEQUE SAUCE"

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

"I NEVER METAHUMAN THAT DIDN'T GO WELL WITH BARBEQUE SAUCE"

Heh... Well Said... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Ryu]

Sirrurg... IMO terrifying (much so), but not terrorist. He will consider fear a natural metahuman reaction. He is a dragon warrior specialising in direct action after all.

Aztlan executed a dragon. Previously Sirrurg hunted those who killed dragons during the down-cycle, now a metahuman group steps up and "celebrates" a dragon killing. Instant shift of target.

[RelentlessImp]

Is Ghostwalker going to return?

Probably. Like others have said, he probably already has.

Has Ghostwalker lost his city for good?

Doubtful, very doubtful. Unless another dragon moves in who can go claw-to-claw with Ghostwalker, I really rather doubt his city's lost, or that he'll lose it for good unless he outright dies.

What is Hetsaby's real game as no one in shadowrun who has been portrayed as being altruistic in the past has ever turned out to truly be.

Popularity, is my guess. Hestaby wants to get the adoration that Dunkelzahn got, and then use it for some draconic means.

What does Sirrug have against the leaders (of which some are dragons) of Atzlan/Aztechnology?

Blood Magic, most likely. It's worse than Toxic Shamans and hastens the return of the Horrors (IIRC, at least). That anyone's letting blood magic continue is enough to piss anyone who's lived through the Fourth World off.

What is Lofwyr going to do in response to Hetsaby's attacks as doing nothing makes him look weak.

Something that reminds all sentients - metahumans and dragons alike - that he should be FEARED, not played with. Prediction: When Lofwyr smacks back, it's gonna be big, it's gonna be public, and it's gonna scare the ka-britches off everyone who hears about it.

Just how many drakes are running around killing dealers in draconic telesma?

More than anyone wants.

Why a hatchery when the dragon of sixth world explained that clutches were raised by individual dragon parents?

Again, not a clue. It might be, though, that creating a hatchery, while endagering eggs more by putting them all in the same place, actually provides more security for them due to being able to focus all defenses around a single place.

"I NEVER METAHUMAN THAT DIDN'T GO WELL WITH BARBEQUE SAUCE"

*groan* Puns. Puns everywhere.

[Sengir]

What does Sirrug have against the leaders (of which some are dragons) of Atzlan/Aztechnology?

The same as everyone else in the know, just combined with the ability to do something about it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

What is Lofwyr going to do in response to Hetsaby's attacks as doing nothing makes him look weak.

What I'm more wondering about is what the rest of the world is going to do about it. Hello everyone, somebody is just touring the world blowing up the belongings of a megacorp...combined with the "Atzlan complained to the UN because their war effort was hampered" bit from CT that makes me suspect some of the new freelancers are still suffering from Wrong Universe Syndrome and have not quite understood that the very core idea of Shadowrun is...*drum roll* shadowruns as replacement for of state-sized entities going toe-to-toe with each other

[Grinder]

What I'm more wondering about is what the rest of the world is going to do about it. Hello everyone, somebody is just touring the world blowing up the belongings of a megacorp...combined with the "Atzlan complained to the UN because their war effort was hampered" bit from CT that makes me suspect some of the new freelancers are still suffering from Wrong Universe Syndrome and have not quite understood that the very core idea of Shadowrun is...*drum roll* shadowruns as replacement for of state-sized entities going toe-to-toe with each other

James Meiers seems to be a very very very huge fan of the whole spy issue; wonder how much he has contributed to the part of the metaplot.

[Stormdrake]

See I forgot about the fact that Sirrug was hunting those that hunted dragons during the down cycle. Makes his targeting of Atzlan understandable, not right but not the actions of someone who is just joker crazy either. It also puts a different slant to Hetsaby’s actions from the point of the other dragons. She is defending those the dragon killers are hiding amongst. This seems very familiar…

[CanRay]

How does a dragon get a Glasgow Grin anyhow? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Tashiro]

See I forgot about the fact that Sirrug was hunting those that hunted dragons during the down cycle. Makes his targeting of Atzlan understandable, not right....

I'm going with the 'he hates metahumanity because they keep poking in stuff which brings the Horrors here faster' and 'he's wiping out Atzlan because they're messing around with blood magic and might have Horror tainted among them.' He's probably arrogant enough that he's not going to explain his actions - explaining gives the enemy the chance to try to talk their way out of it. Better to just wipe them off the map.

[CanRay]

"Hm, this interesting thing called a movie suggested that the only way to be sure is to nuke them for orbit. Amazing, we weren't even awake to educate them on the proper way to do things."

[Sengir]

James Meiers seems to be a very very very huge fan of the whole spy issue; wonder how much he has contributed to the part of the metaplot.

I have no idea who wrote what since credits do not list what parts the named individuals contributed. All I know is that some parts of Conspiracy Theories are written for an universe where direct and open warfare seems to be an accepted procedure, not for a universe where powerful entities rely on small strikes carried out by deniable assets.

[Jhaiisiin]

The 6th world is changing. There will always be a place for shadowrunners, but things are getting bigger and more dangerous. I kind of like it, personally. YMMV

[CanRay]

Well, consider how far we've come IRL... And there's more things to happen in Shadowrun than IRL!

[Nath]

Blood Magic, most likely. It's worse than Toxic Shamans and hastens the return of the Horrors (IIRC, at least).That anyone's letting blood magic continue is enough to piss anyone who's lived through the Fourth World off.

A tad more complicated in that part of the world. According to Earthdawn core book and Dragons sourcebook, feathered serpents of what we call now the Americas have used powerful blood magic to regenerate the jungle. Some dragons went as far as teaching metahumans blood magic. The debate turned into a war, each side accusing the other of being manipulated by the Horrors.

I think Dunkelzahn and Ghostwalker may have moved from Barsaive to the Rocky Moutains in the late Fourth Age to deal with that situation (maybe also did Dunkelzahn "unified" the title of Barsaive and Americas Loremasters back then). The feathered serpents teachings would be the origin of the Mesoamerican practices of sacrifice (and possibly also of the Northwestern tribes potlatch and the self-sacrifying exhausting circle dances). The conflict between Amazonia and Aztlan is just a continuation of that war.

[CanRay]

Damn, and I thought the never-ending wars in the Middle East had been around forever...