Forgive me if this has been discussed before, but i'm just getting back into the SR4 and catching up on the timeline of events. Now that Tir Tangire is no longer run by the big bad immortal elves as their personal fief....where did they go? I'm sure the Scribe went to to work with DIMR and Harlequin is keeping a low profile...but some of the other bigwig pointy ears running the Tir must have been pretty torqued off by the collapse of their government. Any thoughts on where they're currently hiding?

No one knows. And I don't mean that in a "Muwahahah, they're being spooky and vague in the published material" way, either. I mean "no one's told us yet, or hinted at it, or really mentioned it very much." Last I heard a novel was planned that was going to flesh it all out, and then the novel fell through a couple years back, and they just haven't been able to wedge it all in anywhere else, since.

Rumors and half truths.
1. The elves really haven't removed themselves that far from there positions of power.
2. The new government is really just a puppet to quiet the uprising.
3. This is all part of grander scheme that has been part of the Elves plans all along.
4. Hestaby is behind all of this.
5. The grand experiment has failed and the IE's involved have now moved on to other endeavors.

Add your own rumors and half truths below. Its ok the IE's will appreciate your confusion and paranoia.

damn. I was hoping there was some sort of official word from on high about the virtual disappearance of all those immortal elves and the Horrors. I kind of liked some of those characters and stories. I realize that it might not be entirely possible now to use those concepts due to intellectual property being sold off, moved around and changed/evolved on it's own...but still, I like the lovecraftian horror aspect to some of the encounters. it was nice to see critters/situations where even the most tricked out street sammie couldn't blast his way out of it and had to think his/her way through.

Wouldn't mind signing up for the events listed right here.

I'd be surprised if the Almanac didn't give at least a little new information on a country that's been going through some major changes that's only roughly 150 miles south of one of the two main settings. Of course this is just random speculation on my part so we could get absolutely nothing new from the book.

I'd be pretty surprised, too... ahem.

all I have to say is that, if you DO update the local political situation a bit, I shall be very happy indeed. One thing about shadowrun, it's always had good writers and developers on staff. that's been true of all it's incarnations and iterations. the political intrigue alone has been very well developed indeed. if the elves are up to their pointy ears in manipulations again, I could go for a year on just that update!

I wouldn't be at all surprised if this were precisely the reason the plot maneuver was performed. Also, opinions are strongly divided on many of the aspects of the metaplot you're talking about; an awful lot of people absolutely hate the immortal elves, and many don't even particularly like dragons with Earthdawn connections. That, plus the gentlemens' agreement between the Shadowrun people and the Earthdawn people not to crap in each other's punchbowls, means it's a lot easier to shove a lot of these characters and their stories offstage. This is a cycle Shadowrun goes through every so often, but I wouldn't be particularly sanguine about the possibility of many of these elements taking center stage again.

3278 is still pining for Tom Dowd and Lou Prosperi.

Yeah, I know it's something of a sensitive subject, but I do like the Horrors. well not personally mind you, but as a story concept they have their uses. waaaaaaaay back in the day, the adventure 'Bottled Demon' was one of my favorites. Stuff like that is what I was referring to - not directly involving the Horrors but items/objects of power related to them and their goals. I'm also a sucker for blood magic, Aztecnology and political intrigue. I plan on using/abusing the recent shakeup in Seattle as the springboard for my next story arc (lots of runs by current and former Lone Star cops/administrators to hit Knight Errant security while they take over the cop shops in the city). Along the way, all sorts of things can (and probably will) happen.

Yeah, as I understand it pretty much 3278 hit the nail on the head. Enough people didn't like it, so it went off stage. I can only hope the people who made cyber peg legs, skates, and prehensile tails go the same way. Far, far, far away from the game.

I know a lot of people aren't a huge fan of the IEs and some of the Earthdawn tie ins. And thats fine by me. Whatever is right for you game and all that. And I know the Earthdawn direct tie-in stuff can't really be done either. But Shadowrun has an established history that involves old stuff from that meta-plot. Personally, I think that the magic cycle stuff is part of what gives SR such nice depth.

Harlequin is an IE from the Earthdawn age, but he is now entirely SR, and I think he can be a pretty fun guy to have in an SR product. Also, Horrors and mysteries of the past have always been a decent portion of the SR 'verse. While Catalyst rolls out the new important products, fine they can take a back seat. But I really hope they come back to continue furthering their plots and make the world a more real place.

I will admit that I have had mixed feelings with even the elven lifespan in SR. I remember looking at SR1 and SR3 where they talked about living for thousands of years as a 'possible' lifespan. The only In-Character proof I remember seeing was a published study by the Tir elves themselves. My characters who were anti-elf would claim that was propoganda pushed by a pro-elvish agenda to try and prove supposed superiority of the elven race. If they needed to stoop that low, then they were no better than Humanis.

The reasoning for it, it's only been like what, fifty or sixty years since elves 'first' appeared. They may look young, but watch them turn one hundred and just suddenly start to completely suffer from old age in the matter of minutes or days, rather than slowly. Because, their genetic code may rebuild itself faster than sapiens sapiens, but doesn't mean it won't still just break down at the same time.

It was mostly just a way to keep elves from feeling so high and mighty because just imagine in the corporate world, an elf as your boss, you're stuck with them until they get a new job, get promoted/fired, or retire. And think about it, a thousand years, where you get what... nine hundred possible years working... Imagine your pension and your RRSP.

Given the effects of compound interest over thousands of years the IEs should already own 100% of everything in the world.

I liked the bugs and horrors too. Much more than the dragons, IEs and furries.

I certainly don't expect the 'official rules' to reflect my personal bias towards Lovecraftian style game play, but I've found that just a little bit of that atmosphere goes a long, long way in a story arc. IMHO, it was a mistake to move away from that story element - since the mystery of cycles of magic and the ancient evils slumbering away in far off dimensions can and does add something rather unique to shadowrun. But like I said, that's just how I plan to run my game, it's not going to be a major plot point in every run...but at some point, horror magic will make an appearance.