How do Dragons care for their dead?, My players: please stay out. Options

[ShadowDragon8685]

So, interesting situation came up in my game.

My players recently came into possession of rather a lot of Leviathian telesma: an intact fin and several sections of hide with scales still attached.

It was found in the gut of a Megalodon (I figure if a pack of them was brave enough to attack the Sea Dragon, a pack of them might be brave enough to attack a younger Leviathan and win,) by some friends of theirs aboard a fishing trawler that wound up pulling in the megalodon. (The megalodon's stomach was all bound up by the indigestible fin and hides, so it went after the contents of the next; got caught, pulled up, and the fishermen decided like hell they were going to cut the net, so they hauled it aboard and slaughtered it. Big fishing trawler.)

Originally I was going to have them offer to sell it to my players for 20% of its value, but after thinking on it for a bit, I realized they'd just give it away, since they wouldn't want to deal with it - or deal IN it.

Then my players decided the same things. They twigged to the fact that they were handling the remains of a sapient creature and it would be heinously disrespectful to make some lined coats out of its hide. Not to mention the whole, you know, "dragons would want to murder them for it" bit.


So they decided they needed to give it away to someone who would see to it that the remains were disposed of in a manner according to draconic customs. Of course, they don't know any dragons, don't have any contacts that know any dragons, and they didn't think it was wise to go looking for dragons. Thus, they decided the safest bet would be to turn the remains over to the Draco Foundation, figuring that the foundation founded by the will of Big D and still headed by his First Lady would be the best bet of doing right by the remains as anonymously as possible.


So, how do dragons deal with the remains of their dead? Has that been touched upon anywhere? And would the Draco Foundation be interested in giving them a reward for this, or just a "Well... Thank you, that was very generous of you," pat on the back? Would it maybe be something that comes back to stroke them later, say, if the Foundation needs something done, they remember those guys who voluntarily turned over about 50,000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) worth of dragon's remains out of respect for the dead?

[bannockburn]

It has. Earthdawn Dragons book, I believe. Everything is burned and turned to ashes, hence very little (if any at all) skeletons remain. There's also a ritualistic dividing of the dead dragon's hoard, usually with the strongest at scene getting to cherry pick. Which is why dragonkind was really bummed when Dunkelzahn published his will.

As for the Draco foundation: They are merely there to execute the will, they're not really _that_ interested in supporting dragon rights movements and all that.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Do Leviathans partake of the same rituals? (They live underwater, I reckon they don't get to speak much to the flying types, and they probably don't have much luck with that whole 'burn to ashes' thing.)


In this case, I imagine the Foundation would simply contact the nearest, friendliest dragon they know, to handle the cremation? Or would they try to track down next-of-kin?

[bannockburn]

I'm not sure if there even is more than one Leviathan, atm.
In ye olden days the sea dragon was known for her rather conservative behaviour and she was known to adhere to dragon 'laws' (or rather: rituals). It's a mixture of flame and magic at any rate, so I guess she'd have the means to disintegrate remains, even if it's not flying and spewing fire (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
All of the above: IIRC.

No idea if the foundation itself would do anything at all. It's lead by drakes and elves, at the moment, and those aren't exactly known for their good relations to dragons. Might be more helpful for the runners to just go to the nearest dragon and politely ask for an audience. And hope he doesn't eat them before they've explained themselves (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[ShadowDragon8685]

bannockburn: True, but I don't think they'd necessarily want to torque off a dragon by taking something given to them for what equates to a humanitarian gesture (to see remains disposed off properly) and then making dragonhide coats out of it.


Perhaps they'd politely decline by stating that at present, they don't have the means to properly dispose of the remains?


That could lead my players to an interesting conundrum: do they look for a dragon, do they try to research draconic rituals themselves to figure out how to dispose of the remains, or do they put it all back in the freezer and forget about it.

[bannockburn]

Researching won't be really helpful, I guess. They're very hush hush about all this stuff (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[ShadowDragon8685]

Well, yeah, but my players are used to literally everything being on the Matrix with enough Data Search successes.


I figure that they might just attract a dragon's interest anyway.

[bannockburn]

With 'they', I meant the dragons. Meaning: If you're not a dragon (or a true drake, presumably) you don't know about it and you don't get to know about it. Least of all the Matrix gets to know about it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[ShadowDragon8685]

That was kind of my point, bannockburn. They'd try Matrix Searching, find nothing, but the matrix search would attract a dragon's attention.

[Udoshi]

Remember that dead dragonbits are rather powerful magical reagents. If people catch wind of this, your group may find parties trying to snag the leviathan bits off of them.

Particularly another dragon - since it means they can make foci that aren't linked back to their own body.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Dead dragonbits being powerful magical reagents: Yeah, I know. That's why I threw them at them, but they decided that it wouldn't be right to go an enchant bits of a dead sapient person.

That, and the worry that if a dragon saw them with said bits of a dead dragon, he'd decide to see how crunchy they are and how they taste with ketchup. (Not very tasty: cyberware doesn't go down well.)

So now it's up to them. I'm just trying to figure out what happens when they take it to the Draco Foundation, as a start. My first thought had been that the Foundation would have the connections to hand the remains off to a dragon who would see to it that they were dealt with properly, and the question was whether or not they had some kind of reward. Now, though...?

[DMiller]

I think I would have the Draco Foundation refuse to accecpt the remains, however offer information on someone who might be interested. You can then provide the team with information about contacting another Dragon and all the adventures that would allow. The information that the team has the remains could also then be leaked into the shadows to allow for other teams to attempt a snatch and grab against your team while they are making arrangements.

In the end, I would probably award the group with a new contact (at least). This would not be the dragon, but perhaps one of his/her underlings and maybe a small "cash" reward, a gem or some such that the group can keep or pawn off.

But that's just me.

-D

[ShadowDragon8685]

Hrm...

Damn, now I need a copy of Dragon's Clutch, don't I?


Does it at least have info on non-Great Dragons booting around Seattle in the 2070s?

[DMiller]

I have no idea (I don't have the book). But you could always just make up a non-great dragon for the purpose.

-D

[ShadowDragon8685]

DMiller: Thanks. I think I'm going to go that route - or else use a pre-existing non-Great who is aligned with some of the draconic factions.

Say, throw them two possibilities from the DF, one with ties to Hestaby, the other with ties to Lofwyr. (They wouldn't throw them to Alamais, that's just wrong.)


The one tied to Hestaby might not reward them with anything (except maybe a hearty, draconic pat on the back and heartfelt, sincere thanks for doing the right thing - which in my game equates to a big Karma reward,) or s/he might reward them with something else - perhaps an obligata (and hey, even if it's a terrible idea, having a Dragon owe you one can come in handy,) or a material reward of the "well, this is nice... What do we do with it?" sort, maybe something nifty and magical that acts as a portable Feng Shui positive Lifestyle Quality or something.

And, of course, if they go with giving it over to Lofwyr's dragon, they'll be rewarded the traditional way: Biscuits an' gravy! And by that I mean gobs and gobs of cash! No Karma Boost, of course, because handing it over to Lofwyr's dragon means it's going to get turned into telesma anyway, it'll just be a dragon doing the enchanting.

And someone will make a go for it, while they're distracted, hopefully. I used the opposing street team from the Quickstart rules to make a run on their group Lifestyle once before, but they got run off (and their mage got geeked) before they could find the "treasure" they were looking for. Double the treasures, and I suspect they'll come back with more boys, and be more tenacious.

[DMiller]

I'm glad to have inspired you. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

-D

[Warlordtheft]

Hrm...

Damn, now I need a copy of Dragon's Clutch, don't I?


Does it at least have info on non-Great Dragons booting around Seattle in the 2070s?

As I recall, at least 2.

[Lantzer]

or s/he might reward them with something else - perhaps an obligata (and hey, even if it's a terrible idea, having a Dragon owe you one can come in handy,)

For some reason, having a dragon owe me one fills me with dread. Because if I was a dragon and I owed someone a favor, I'd arrange matters so that they called it in to save their butt as soon as possible. I might be able to arrange matters so at the end they owed ME a favor.

And my groups would probably fence the dragon bits - quality telesma.