(One big NOTE: This isn't a wheedling plea to people like Hardy and Adam for explanations or an accusation that they screwed up on x plot point. I appreciate the hard work that everyone who's ever penned the game has put in and understand the difficulties that it takes. If someone who works/worked on Shadowrun WANTS to give a "official" explanation, great. Or they can put their own speculation in. It's all for fun.
SECOND NOTE: If the Unsolved Mysteries have in fact been explained, please provide reference, not just go "This already got solved!" I may own a LOT of the books, but maybe there's one I didn't get to yet. Danke schoen.)

Hey all, long time SR player, semi-first time poster (I believe I used to have an account back way back) but I thought that I'd start my posting here with some interesting ideas. The first being.. *Cues Robert Stack voice* Unsolved Mysteries of the Sixth World.

There have been a few dozen things that just seem to have blipped off the radar here and there, either never to be brought up again or just simply shelved. The obvious answer is change in direction for the game due to new staff shuffling in and out, and frankly 20 years of canon will cause many a headache of loose ends and frayed edges. Just ask any Trekkie. In my opinion, the two biggest causer of UMs: the end of FASA and the scrambling to find new writers and keep the old ones as it advanced to FanPro and the clearing away of most of the pre-Crash storylines in System Failure/advancing to 4th Edition. (Let's not have nitpicking about the stories that DID happen. Yes, Second American Revolution got the shaft. Deal with it. It still has ramifications like Colloton taking presidency, so that's better than nothing.)

Will they get worked out? I don't know. Maybe some of them were left intentionally vague in order for enterprising GMs to work out in their own games, or for future freelancers to gather together for their proposals. But that's what this thread series is about. The chance for we 'Runners to discuss and speculate about those things that are unsolved. If anything, it makes for a good collection for theories and explanations.

SO: To open this series, let us look at a fairly recent Unsolved Mystery of the Sixth World:

Nadja Daviar.

Voice of Ol' Unkle Zahn himself and former Vice President before Haffener got the lead resignation letter in '65. She disappeared right afterwards and now marks 7 years since she ghosted. If you didn't catch the five or six references to her still being gone in Ares' section of the Corp Guide, her missing still has ramifications for a lot of things, such as Gavilan Ventures' stock giving the Aurelius family a way back into Ares and the chance to screw over ol' Damien Knight with Art Vogel's help.

I'd actually credit her disappearance to the sweeping of most of the pre-Crash storylines that went with System Failure/the beginning of 4th Edition. She was used fairly often, but after Haffener got the presidency and the whole dark times with the end of FASA, she dropped off the radar.

So where did she go? Biggest theories:

-The SAR got to her as well. (I don't think this is that good of a thoery. She was a pretty power player and to kill her off-screen without a single mention in 4-5 years of books is a little hard to do. They probably would have kacked her right along with Haffener in the SAR writeup in System Failure if they were killing her off.)

-Went Underground because of Ghostwalker. Pet theory of mine. With all the psychotic speculation of Ghostwalker being Dunklezahn's brother (or similarly connected) maybe he pulled her to his side or she went there in order to get some last vestiges of D that she was holding onto. Being a voice for a dragon HAS to have some sort of lingering stuff, and Ghostwalker had been doing all he could to be kinda like a hardcore Dunkelzahn. (Dunno, this is an odd theory but has merit. Could be shot through, since he's got his own voice and all.)

-Went underground because of Ryan Mercury. This actually was a bit of an interesting theory that I've seen from a thread here on the forum, that since she was GF with Ryan Mercury even after his Drake self emerged, there was the possibility that the elf and Drake DNA was compatible enough to have kids. Maybe the gestation period is that long? Or maybe she just retired with RM so they could raise their children without people trying to vivisect or exploit an offspring of a meta and a drake. (This has possibility, but does this mean that Assets Inc. has been completely folded then, or just like the ever revolving mage, they just found a new leader?)

-Falling out with Draco Foundation. Maybe the DF went in a direction she didn't like and there was some sort of tiff. She's supposed to be their Director, but maybe with her being VP and all they went in directions she couldn't control and she had to go deal with it; perhaps it backfired.

-Went rogue? Well, there's always that possibility. Something went ping in her mind, maybe she was a plant by the SAR the whole time, maybe Dunklezahn's spirit found a way to contact her, maybe she went on a 7 year vacation to where he and Burnout have been keeping the enemy at bay... you get the drift.

And a side-question with her. You knew it had to come, there's always speculation about any elven lead. Is she a member of Those Wacky Immortal Elves™? That could be a possibility right there. Either she is Immortal now because of some gene and we'll see her later anyway, or she already was one, took on the ND personality to get close to Dunkelzahn and eight years later figured she did all she could do and just go back to where she came from?


THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW.

Seriously, have fun, speculate away. If this is popular, I'll be doing a few more of these. Or suggest your own!

It's fairly canon that she survived the NR coup, and JackPoint speculation knows she's off the radar but the Foundation may well know her whereabouts and remain in contact with her.

Keeping quiet with Assets, Inc. is the most sensible theory that I can figure. There may be some unpublished fluff out there that has the team getting down to the bottom of the whole New Revolution thing that didn't see the light of day due to budget constraints, artistic differences or just a change in the direction.

I think she simply got breast reduction surgury and now nobody recognizes her.

Jen and I had a plan where she'd show up in charge of the Draco Foundation again with a mini-dracoform or two perched on her shoulders. Mama's little babies...

Frosty seems to insinuate that the Draco Foundation knows exactly where Nadja is...and seeing as she's Ehran's daughter (one of the board members of the Draco Foundation) and she is the apprentice of Harlequin...I cannot for the life of me find the quote right now, but I remember reading it somewhere several times.

"That's assuming the Draco Foundation doesn't know exactly where Daviar is."

That is a fantastic idea and I hope the stars align, the wormhole opens and we are transported to that universe.

It must be done.

Heh, most excellent.

In his will, Dunkelzahn left Nadja Daviar a sealed envelope containing a seven years plan for the management of Gavilan Ventures. We don't how the plan coped with the events of the Dragonheart Trilogy, resulting in Daviar giving Knight proxy rights for a two years period. But a seven year plan starting in 2057 should come to an end in 2064. Maybe the last line of the plan was something like "October 31, 2064: sign the sale of Gavilan Ventures to the Draco Foundation, head for a remote place outside UCAS territory and hide."

Few things would please me more then in some future adventure splat the PC's come across the skeletal remains of Ryan Mercury and Nadja Daviar. It is easier and cleaner after seven years for her to have been dealt with by the New Revolution or any of a multitude of enemies she's sure to have made over the years, or just offered by Colton's backers to clear the way to the presidency.

I'd be rather disappointed if the official story was that she just died. Seems lazy to me, especially for someone who is obviously resourceful.

Like I said in my initial workup, it's a lame idea to kill her off-camera when she was such a major player and popular character. Yes, she was essentially a victim of the System Failure sweeping out of SR3's stuff, but with everything they crammed into SF, they would have made at least a mention of her getting popped too.

Granted, there's nothing saying you can't do that in your game, Lurker. I know that in my own stuff I'm planning some interesting stuff.

Honestly, I like Nath's idea. The interesting point is that a lot of what has happened was part of Big D's plans, which means she'd be flying solo now.

How is she obviously resourceful? Her main "super power" was a lot of wealth and power granted to her by a great dragon. Lots of "more resourceful" folks have bit it over the course of the storyline.

Lots of wealth and power, granted or not, are rather good resources. Seems pretty obvious. That and if you are familiar with the metaplot (which you seem to be) she started out as a highly charismatic socialite and became the voice of a dragon. She has name recognition, people sculpt their bodies to emulate her, and she managed to become the Vice President of a country while holding stocks in a Megacorp at some point, which are overseen by another body that is implied to be temporary until she resurfaces. She also has access to Assets, Inc and the Draco Foundation.

Lots of people with more resources have died, but all of them have died on screen as it were. Potent individuals do not go easily in Shadowrun.

Well she WAS the voice of a Great Dragon. That means D saw something in her that was good enough to be his personal representative. After all, they've already suggested that Voices tend to have interesting qualities, as noted by the shaman that Ghostwalker uses.

Sorry for the doublepost, but this HAS to repeated. Let us not forget the Thor shot in System Failure that caused Art Dankwalther to stop breathing.

That was the very example I had in mind when I made the comment.

In Nadja's case those qualities were a pair of dusky brown nipples.

The thing for me about Daviar is yes it would have been better to have her die on screen or at least her body to have been found on screen by now, but sometimes even famous people get a bullet to the back of the head and their bodies dumped into a very thorough nano chipper. In it's not an open invitation to bring them back onto the political scene.

I'm sensing a bit of... dislike for Najda here, heh. Granted, she got a bit oversexualized thanks to Jak Koke (sex curing amnesia my ass), but she was never written as an airhead.

Always the easy answer, isn't it?

It can. It would just be incredibly disappointing and would be an exceptional build up to nothing. Story Logic often prevails. I'd find it an almost silly way to get rid of a potential tool for brand new GMs, though interesting adventures can be made for discovering such a thing.

But, as stated, it would be an incredible disappointment. You're welcome to your interpretation, but I feel that you dislike Daviar a bit.

Holly Brighton (Big D's previous voice) had a hit put out on her.

"They wasted a Thor Shot to get one guy?" "No, they wasted a guy with a Thor Shot."

There's no kill like overkill.

Nadja has just become the 6th World's version of Jimmy Hoffa.

My problem with her being offed off-screen is that you know Mercury is going to be protecting his girl, and he's a physad drake. They have to get through him first, and he fought off a cyberzombie. I think they're keeping out of the spotlight with the rest of Assets, Inc. It makes the most sense to me. I got the impression from the Dragon Heart series that while she liked working for Dunkie, she wasn't too keen on the whole presidency thing but did it anyway because Kyle asked nicely (and Dunkie would have approved).

A physad drake also dies to a bullet to the head especially out of control of their Mary Sue author.

Don't even have to be famous for that to happen.

Hell, that's the plot of the new Fallout game.

...

Minus the nanochipper. Shallow grave just outside of Vegas instead.

Actually, the literary term would be Gary Stu since it's a guy author and a guy character, but come on, spill it. I sense great hatred from you, and I'm guessing it's not not just ND you have an issue with but all of Assets Inc. Though most of the Shadowrun novels had hugely powerful characters in them, so what's with this one?

I am also sensing much Nadja hate from Lurker.

I doubt she is dead, and I really doubt she would have died off screen. As with alot of important people in Shadowrun, sometimes they go into hiding. See Jetblack, also Maria Mercurial.

And yes, they are important enough to be mentioned in the Sixth World Almanac and have adventures about them.

I am sure she has something brewing that is "all in the plans of the big D."

She didn't go into hiding...she pops up all over the place. She just only had one story worth telling in terms of a Shadowrun adventure...once that was done, she became just another singer/songwriter.

As of the Sixth World Almanac she dropped out of sight after her son and Hernandez died in a plane crash during Crash 2.0.

She is also planning a comeback.

In the timeline discussion my friend. According to that, she dropped out of sight for a while.

Take that for what it is worth....

Some things that may be turned into the piece of a puzzle, or so I thought...
- Nadja Daviar was in Seattle during the New Revolution coup d'état attempt on November 3rd, 2064 (System Failure, page 105).
- The New Revolution was obviously able to pass through UCAS Secret Service security detail surrounding president Kyle Haeffner (System Failure, page 105-107).
- Nadja Daviar had access to Dunkelzahn former operations network, along with UCAS and Ares assets (Portfolio of a Dragon: Dunkelzahn's Secrets, page 88-101).
- Jezebel Surrateau, the head of Seraphim operations in Seattle, took control of a part of Dunkelzahn operations network in Seattle (Blood in the Boardroom, page 60)
- The Seraphim operations may have been compromised by Ares or an Ares ally in late 2064 (System Failure, page 97-98).
- Nicholas Aurelius (grandson of Ares founder and son of Leonard Aurelius) headed Cross Advanced Electronics in Seattle, where he closely worked with the Seraphim (Corporate Download, page54). He now replaces Nadja Daviar on Ares Macrotechnology board (Corporate Guide, page 55).

I'd assume it was because Mercury was infallably powerful, being a latent Drake or wtf-ever was going on there.

ND is the mortal agent of a Great Dragon who is so powerful he has a plan for coming back from Death.
I would expect her to be ridiculously powerful.

But instead of being after 3 days it would be after 3 decades?

Maybe he's planning on waiting for Verjigorm to come out and play in the astral metaplane and kick the ever living crap out of him?

So when are we getting the second coming of dunkelzahn arc?

Ghostwalker is the Big D, but he has been twisted by the metaplanes! I've told ya but ya wouldn't listen!

Aw really? I liked that adventure. My old crew back in that edition even helped get those two lovebirds together.

-- Isn't she getting on in the years? She was selected as Dunkies voice WAAAAYYYY back in 2039. Maybe she's suffering from dementia.

Well, she's an elf, so... I doubt it.