[RowanTheFox]

Don't try to bring that egg into Altarraum though. Altarraum was still a very young nation when Quecksilber's wife was rescued (only a couple of years old, in fact), and still trying to build up it's military might. It would be in no condition to fight off a furious great dragon, and Maisie would be well aware of that fact. Harlequin himself has a strong personal desire to see the kingdom thrive (He has his own plans for it), and if he believes you've become too great a risk to it's survival, he'll kill you himself before you can say "oops".

Crossing the sea with the egg would be suicidal logistics anyway. Too many ways it can be intercepted. Too vulnerable.
The best plan would be to put it into just enough immediate danger that Ghostwalker can't ignore it, but not secure it quite so far away that he'd prefer the long game and a much larger retaliation to get it back.

Hmm...I wonder if the Great Sea Dragon would grace New Orleans with her presence for another egg. He would have to barter very hard with her to get it back. ;p
I don't need to actually call her there, but I could threaten to do so if Ghostwalker decides not to play nice. It's a bluff he can't afford to call wrong, as he'd have to pay through the snout and then some to get the egg back from her.

The biggest hurdle is setting up the meet.

Now, Altarraum is much older and much, MUCH stronger when "Where Loyalties Lie" starts up, making the egg theft a more viable option. Good luck getting it from Denver to what used to be Bavaria, though. You'll definitely need Quecksilber's help there.

I'd need his help with any heist. My drake is a decent plotter, but he is certainly no immortal. They play on an entirely different level.

Maisie owns property in New Orleans via the proxy of a proxy's proxy, so her name isn't actually on anything that would tie her to the property, and if it goes well she could have a strong ally with the Sea Dragon. It's a risk she might be willing to take, as she's still trying to forge as many alliances with powerful individuals as she can. If it goes bad, however, you're on your own. Nothing personal, she just can't afford the risk of having her name attached to something like that if it goes awry. If Ghostwalker got fragged off enough to burn Altarraun to cinders, he absolutely could, and Ol' Goldy might withdraw his protection of Altarraum if he found out Maisie was complicit in the theft of an egg, regardless of how much he personally dislikes GW.

Ah, politics. Read it and weep Machiavelli.

[Dwagonzhan]

Maisie owns property in New Orleans via the proxy of a proxy's proxy, so her name isn't actually on anything that would tie her to the property, and if it goes well she could have a strong ally with the Sea Dragon. It's a risk she might be willing to take, as she's still trying to forge as many alliances with powerful individuals as she can. If it goes bad, however, you're on your own. Nothing personal, she just can't afford the risk of having her name attached to something like that if it goes awry. If Ghostwalker got fragged off enough to burn Altarraun to cinders, he absolutely could, and Ol' Goldy might withdraw his protection of Altarraum if he found out Maisie was complicit in the theft of an egg, regardless of how much he personally dislikes GW.

Ah, politics. Read it and weep Machiavelli.

If avoiding overt conflict is an issue, the most sensible option is to petition the Sea Dragon as a mediator rather than a lynchpin.
Once arrangements have been made, and Susanna is confirmed as being on her way give the Sea Dragon the egg to discourage a switch-and-snatch op. Also, as Ghostwalker may attempt to use power illusion and a homonculus or an Ally Spirit trumped up as Susanna as his trade instead of the real thing, having another Great to sniff out his magical bullshit keeps him honest.

The Sea Dragon scores a major artifact or two (she has plenty of dragon eggs already, this is just a unique opportunity for her to score loot she'd otherwise have no chance of getting); Ghostwalker gets to save face (er, "save snout"?), I get a new job to smuggle Mrs. Quecksilber back home...actually no. I'm calling her husband for a pickup; not because I'm lazy, but because I'd wager that's something he'd want to handle himself.

[RowanTheFox]

Maisie owns property in New Orleans via the proxy of a proxy's proxy, so her name isn't actually on anything that would tie her to the property, and if it goes well she could have a strong ally with the Sea Dragon. It's a risk she might be willing to take, as she's still trying to forge as many alliances with powerful individuals as she can. If it goes bad, however, you're on your own. Nothing personal, she just can't afford the risk of having her name attached to something like that if it goes awry. If Ghostwalker got fragged off enough to burn Altarraun to cinders, he absolutely could, and Ol' Goldy might withdraw his protection of Altarraum if he found out Maisie was complicit in the theft of an egg, regardless of how much he personally dislikes GW.

Ah, politics. Read it and weep Machiavelli.

If avoiding overt conflict is an issue, the most sensible option is to petition the Sea Dragon as a mediator rather than a lynchpin.
Once arrangements have been made, and Susanna is confirmed as being on her way give the Sea Dragon the egg to discourage a switch-and-snatch op. Also, as Ghostwalker may attempt to use power illusion and a homonculus or an Ally Spirit trumped up as Susanna as his trade instead of the real thing, having another Great to sniff out his magical bullshit keeps him honest.

The Sea Dragon scores a major artifact or two (she has plenty of dragon eggs already, this is just a unique opportunity for her to score loot she'd otherwise have no chance of getting); Ghostwalker gets to save face (er, "save snout"?), I get a new job to smuggle Mrs. Quecksilber back home...actually no. I'm calling her husband for a pickup; not because I'm lazy, but because I'd wager that's something he'd want to handle himself.

You'd likely walk away reasonably wealthy as well, and have no shortage of work from him from then on out.

That does complicate your role in "Where Loyalties Lie", however. Even 40 some odd years later, GW would absolutely recognize you and certainly not have you hired for the heist job to swipe Maisie's artifact. You'd probably have to meet the runners in Altarraum and pose as some sort of double-crosser who works for the queen and can lead them to the artifact in question.

[Dwagonzhan]

You'd likely walk away reasonably wealthy as well, and have no shortage of work from him from then on out.

If the heist is the rave, the heat is the after-party.
I'd have to smuggle myself into another country entirely and live off the earnings from the job (for a few years at least) to avoid the nuclear heat from pulling a heist like that.
(shame I'm not an Immortal Elf; then I could just smuggle my entire being into another metaplane)

That does complicate your role in "Where Loyalties Lie", however. Even 40 some odd years later, GW would absolutely recognize you and certainly not have you hired for the heist job to swipe Maisie's artifact. You'd probably have to meet the runners in Altarraum and pose as some sort of double-crosser who works for the queen and can lead them to the artifact in question.

I'll warn you in advance, it would take a lot of convincing in terms of street rep. Not saying my runner is a super-nice dude, but he leaned heavily on his reputation since very early in his career.
(this is what happens when the group's Face dies unexpectedly, and the Combat Adept has to fill in as "face" by virtue of having the highest CHA -_-)

His reputation in the shadows with clients was impeccable. He'd use duplicitous means to trick people into giving him the info and leads he needed, but he never screwed Mr. Johnson or any of his other private contractors.
(Though he's been screwed a few times in turn...fragging Denver Johnsons)
It's not that opportunity didn't call so much, but that the leader of his first runner group had a code of honor that called for absolute loyalty and professionalism to the contractor...and the penalty for violating it was severe.

If Ghostwalker really wants to frag with my character and his rep years after the hypothetical egg heist, have him dangle my runner's sister in front of him.
Remember: she is completely devoted to the white wyrm of her own choice (which my runner doesn't know; he thinks she's just being held hostage to get at him). So there's lots of potential for nasty drama and complicated loyalties there.

[RowanTheFox]

You'd likely walk away reasonably wealthy as well, and have no shortage of work from him from then on out.

If the heist is the rave, the heat is the after-party.
I'd have to smuggle myself into another country entirely and live off the earnings from the job (for a few years at least) to avoid the nuclear heat from pulling a heist like that.
(shame I'm not an Immortal Elf; then I could just smuggle my entire being into another metaplane)

That does complicate your role in "Where Loyalties Lie", however. Even 40 some odd years later, GW would absolutely recognize you and certainly not have you hired for the heist job to swipe Maisie's artifact. You'd probably have to meet the runners in Altarraum and pose as some sort of double-crosser who works for the queen and can lead them to the artifact in question.

I'll warn you in advance, it would take a lot of convincing in terms of street rep. Not saying my runner is a super-nice dude, but he leaned heavily on his reputation since very early in his career.
(this is what happens when the group's Face dies unexpectedly, and the Combat Adept has to fill in as "face" by virtue of having the highest CHA -_-)

His reputation in the shadows with clients was impeccable. He'd use duplicitous means to trick people into giving him the info and leads he needed, but he never screwed Mr. Johnson or any of his other private contractors.
(Though he's been screwed a few times in turn...fragging Denver Johnsons)
It's not that opportunity didn't call so much, but that the leader of his first runner group had a code of honor that called for absolute loyalty and professionalism to the contractor...and the penalty for violating it was severe.

If Ghostwalker really wants to frag with my character and his rep years after the hypothetical egg heist, have him dangle my runner's sister in front of him.
Remember: she is completely devoted to the white wyrm of her own choice (which my runner doesn't know; he thinks she's just being held hostage to get at him). So there's lots of potential for nasty drama and complicated loyalties there.

Quecksilber takes care of his own, and he's good at keeping people hidden/protected (he has to be!). He wouldn't just leave you hanging on your own after that. The issue with your character's sister would probably be resolved during that same heist, for better or worse.

[Dwagonzhan]

Quecksilber takes care of his own, and he's good at keeping people hidden/protected (he has to be!). He wouldn't just leave you hanging on your own after that. The issue with your character's sister would probably be resolved during that same heist, for better or worse.

Well, as long as Quecksilber sets my runner up with a place he can teach archery, he'd be happy. (his original post-runner retirement plan, which worked out for about a year before Denver 2064)
He's relied on it for stress relief and meditation for so many years now, he's an incredible shot.

[RowanTheFox]

Quecksilber takes care of his own, and he's good at keeping people hidden/protected (he has to be!). He wouldn't just leave you hanging on your own after that. The issue with your character's sister would probably be resolved during that same heist, for better or worse.

Well, as long as Quecksilber sets my runner up with a place he can teach archery, he'd be happy. (his original post-runner retirement plan, which worked out for about a year before Denver 2064)
He's relied on it for stress relief and meditation for so many years now, he's an incredible shot.

Pfft, that's easy. Most of Altarraum's population lives in Schwangau (which grew to incorporate Fussen), so that leaves quite a bit of pristine countryside for him to choose from. Just try not to wander too far east, since Nebelherr is still has his lair at Herrenchiemsee which lies on the far eastern side of Altarraum. He's either reached great dragon status by this point, or is possibly very close to that mark.

[RowanTheFox]

You could also just get yourself some steady income by training Altarraum's military recruits in archery, since compulsory military service is a thing there.

[Dwagonzhan]

Pfft, that's easy. Most of Altarraum's population lives in Schwangau (which grew to incorporate Fussen), so that leaves quite a bit of pristine countryside for him to choose from. Just try not to wander too far east, since Nebelherr is still has his lair at Herrenchiemsee which lies on the far eastern side of Altarraum. He's either reached great dragon status by this point, or is possibly very close to that mark.

I'll be sure to send Nebelherr an annual Christmas card or something to stay on his good side. 
(no Fruit Cake though; I have it on good authority that tradition is seen as an open challenge among Greats)

You could also just get yourself some steady income by training Altarraum's military recruits in archery, since compulsory military service is a thing there.

It'd be a very niche regimen, given how impractical bows are in comparison to firearms (especially from SR3 to SR5; it's incredibly cost and performance prohibitive even with heavy specialization in SR5).
Still, there are uses in special operations environments and for physical-mental discipline. Plus, grapple-line shots from (cross)bows can be hooked to a winch or other full grapple-gun system; so that's always handy.

[RowanTheFox]

Pfft, that's easy. Most of Altarraum's population lives in Schwangau (which grew to incorporate Fussen), so that leaves quite a bit of pristine countryside for him to choose from. Just try not to wander too far east, since Nebelherr is still has his lair at Herrenchiemsee which lies on the far eastern side of Altarraum. He's either reached great dragon status by this point, or is possibly very close to that mark.

I'll be sure to send Nebelherr an annual Christmas card or something to stay on his good side. 
(no Fruit Cake though; I have it on good authority that tradition is seen as an open challenge among Greats)

You could also just get yourself some steady income by training Altarraum's military recruits in archery, since compulsory military service is a thing there.

It'd be a very niche regimen, given how impractical bows are in comparison to firearms (especially from SR3 to SR5; it's incredibly cost and performance prohibitive even with heavy specialization in SR5).
Still, there are uses in special operations environments and for physical-mental discipline. Plus, grapple-line shots from (cross)bows can be hooked to a winch or other full grapple-gun system; so that's always handy.

Bows are also quiet. One of Altarraum's many nicknames is the "Land of Many Armies". There's the actual Army, and then there's the Thronwache (who guard the royal family), the Zentralewache (who are Altarraum's primary police force), and the Grenzwache (who guard Altarraum's border). Then there's Quecksilber's Order of Free Drakes and the associated Little Birdies.

Then there's the Mistish Farad, who are also known as the "Queen's Hunters". Guess what they hunt. I'll even give you a clue - It ain't critters.

Point is, you'll have plenty of work.

[RowanTheFox]

Oh, and then there's the Watchers of the Veil, who possess a fanatical hatred of blood mages, toxic mages, and "evil" spirits (Shedim, insect spirits, shadow spirits, etc.). They're basically a cult, and they are creepy.

[Dwagonzhan]

Bows are also quiet. One of Altarraum's many nicknames is the "Land of Many Armies". There's the actual Army, and then there's the Thronwache (who guard the royal family), the Zentralewache (who are Altarraum's primary police force), and the Grenzwache (who guard Altarraum's border). Then there's Quecksilber's Order of Free Drakes and the associated Little Birdies.

Then there's the Mistish Farad, who are also known as the "Queen's Hunters". Guess what they hunt. I'll even give you a clue - It ain't critters.

Point is, you'll have plenty of work.

Point taken. That's a lot of military and paramilitary organizations. 0_o
At least I'll have a place to practice in and out of dracoform in peace for once. (variable STR ratings...bane of archers)

[RowanTheFox]

Bows are also quiet. One of Altarraum's many nicknames is the "Land of Many Armies". There's the actual Army, and then there's the Thronwache (who guard the royal family), the Zentralewache (who are Altarraum's primary police force), and the Grenzwache (who guard Altarraum's border). Then there's Quecksilber's Order of Free Drakes and the associated Little Birdies.

Then there's the Mistish Farad, who are also known as the "Queen's Hunters". Guess what they hunt. I'll even give you a clue - It ain't critters.

Point is, you'll have plenty of work.

Point taken. That's a lot of military and paramilitary organizations. 0_o
At least I'll have a place to practice in and out of dracoform in peace for once. (variable STR ratings...bane of archers)

Maisie was already, as you put it "half-cocked paranoid" before the events in Heart of Gold. After being kidnapped and force fed BTLs to keep her nice and pliable while she was experimented on for weeks, she dove head first into that rabbit hole. Oh, did I mention there's a bunch of faux-immortals running around because of those experiments (and exactly all of the real immortals are pissed about it, Maisie especially)? That's the main purpose of the Mistish Farad, among other things. To hunt down and destroy the faux-immortals with extreme prejudice. It's also the reason why Maisie travels so often under any one of a dozen possible aliases, and never releases less than six fake itineraries. She travels to New Orleans every year for Mardi Gras, and returns some for the annual Beltane, Samhain, and Yule festivals. Good luck finding her any other time though, even Loffy has a small bit of trouble keeping track of her whereabouts.

The Thronewache, Zentralewache, and Grenzwache are all just different branches of the same security force. Consider them like Lone Star or Knight Errant, except they aren't contracted. They're the Throne Guard, Central Guard (police), and Border Guard, respectively.

The Watchers of the Veil popped up after an event called the Samhain Massacre. The massacre was caused by a master shedim infiltrating Alamos 20,000 and manipulating them into pulling off a terrorist attack during the Samhain Festival. The bombing killed a lot of people, and gave the shedim plenty of bodies to inhabit when the master opened an astral gateway. It took three days, aid from the Troll Kingdom and the Corporate Court, and the intervention of Nebelherr to end the massacre. 30,000 people died, including half of the High Council. Only three of the six members survived. Lady Runa lost an eye, Quecksilber damn near lost his leg (which is why he limps and uses a cane), and Lord Geoff survived by the pure dumb luck of simply not being in Altarraum at the time. Took the kingdom's geomancers weeks to lower the background count to a safe level. Unless you use blood magic, toxic magic, or twisted magic, you don't really have to worry about the Watchers of the Veil. If you do, however...you're gonna have a bad time, and not just from the order's Disciples. There is a standing bounty in Altarraum for toxic, blood, and twisted mages, and unlike the DIMR, the Maisie wants them dragged in dead as a doornail.

[Dwagonzhan]

Unless you use blood magic, toxic magic, or twisted magic, you don't really have to worry about the Watchers of the Veil. If you do, however...you're gonna have a bad time, and not just from the order's Disciples. There is a standing bounty in Altarraum for toxic, blood, and twisted mages, and unlike the DIMR, the Maisie wants them dragged in dead as a doornail.

Not an issue for me. I have something of a history of beating toxic mages and their ilk.

-Nebraska (UCAS) 2059
[spoiler]My first deployment out in the UCAS Army as a "training exercise", turned into a full-blown investigation, resulting in shutting down a toxic shaman cult operating on the Nebraska-NAN border and the Denver Free Range Zone. (before Ghostwalker came back). My role was astral tracking and fire support as I was the only weirdo using a bow and grapple-tackle. (Only man on the job with a full magazine in his side arm from start to finish)
We put 4 toxics in the ground and took 2 more into custody (UCAS Army Command never mentioned what they did with them).[/spoiler]

-Seattle, late 2061:
[spoiler]A Toxic Hermetic Mage got royally pissed at a rival Alligator Shaman over, of all things, a BBQ contest. The Mage stole a powerful guardian spirit from the Gator Shaman's lodge and twisted it into going on a rampage. Unfortunately, the Mage wasn't so fortunate in banishing the creature after it plowed through the vendors, and I had to go put it down as I was the only person in the neighborhood at the time that could hurt the damage thing directly. With liberal usage of distractions, fire-support from a grenade toting runner on my team, and fancy maneuvering (and the cost of my favorite bike...I still miss that thing  ) I was able to get close enough to land enough hits with my Killing Hands to put it down for good.

Of course, one of my runner "friends" decided to be a royal jackass and record the whole fight on a drone-cam, posting it to the Matrix Shadowboards and pirate Trid sites before I could pummel some sense into him.
Dunno how much he made on my fistfight with a rampaging crocodile-man-spirit thing, but it's a moot point now: It's one thing I can thank Crash 2.0 for.  [/spoiler]

-Seattle, 2063
[spoiler]Two Yakuza toxic Awakened twins (a brother adept and sister sorcerer) spearheaded an invasion of several SINless neighborhoods, including that where my Shadowrunner team lived, hoping to break up the Ork Brotherhood protection rings and drive the locals out in preparation for a major expansion of Yakuza operations. Fought them in the shadows for 7 months to a standstill before a tip and subsequent offer for a joint operation against the Yaks came from the Finnigan Seattle Mafia.

Somehow (I suspect a mole in the Finnigan family) Knight-Errant got word of the venture, and muscled their way into the op, threatening to expose my team's dealings with numerous legitimate clients (including our arrangement with Lone Star), if we didn't cut them in on it. As that impacted our own operation, we agreed. I coordinated and lead a three-pronged assault on a large Yakuza smuggling "cleaning station" for stripping serials and removing tracking tags from all manner of shadow market goods.

The Mafia ran mass external interference, hitting several Yakuza sites in surprise attacks. They got first crack at the more available loot,  while my team and the Ork Brotherhood lead an assault on the personnel, culminating in a rooftop duel between me, my best friend and fellow runner Chrome, and the wonder twin siblings. We put them in the ground, but I needed a medievac by K-E afterwards. (still unhappy about that; I'm pretty sure some corp suit has a file and vial of me somewhere)

Knight-Errant took all the public credit for the op; one of the largest organized crime busts in history. Lone Star protested under right of jurisdiction, but it turned out K-E had quietly negotiated with the Seattle government for jurisdiction rights for that case specifically. That was the beginning of a long series of public embarrassments for Lone Star in Seattle, and I think we all know what became of that...[/spoiler]

-2064: Denver
[spoiler]Yup, this fateful case once again. Got a contract directly from the commander-general of the Zone Defense Force (who only answered to Nicolas Whitebird and Ghostwalker himself), asking specifically for me and my team. It was a long and dangerous mission.

Our opposition, two groups of powerful and experienced blood mages:
1) La Vengeanza, the remains of a Jaguar Warrior company previously stationed in Denver and VERY eager to stir shit up in the wizwyrm's domain.
2) "Seidr", a Norse Asatru Cult lead by a powerful "Valkyrie" mystic adept (turns out, she was my sister, but that's another tale for another time...)
Little is known about them even after the op, but they were easily the more dangerous of the two.

Me and my runner team were contracted to investigate who was instigating civil strife between the Ute, Sioux and Pueblo districts in Denver. (this all started when a mysterious assassin group mass murdered Maria Dancing-Cat's lodgemates, with astral evidence directly implicating then-Pueblo leader Huehueseca). We learned through capture and interrogation of one of La Vengeanza's agents, they were stirring up trouble to cover for their much greater objective: Killing Ghostwalker with a powerful blood magic ritual. Naturally, the wizwyrms aren't defenseless, and Dollmaker has that name for a reason. But the blood mages discovered a possible major vulnerability in the great dragon's defenses: The Great Spirit of Denver, who was fragmented and whoever put it (her) back together could command her for a time.
They planned to use her spiritual authority over Denver to order all of Ghostwalker's spiritual defenses down; which would make killing him far easier.

Their plan nearly worked, but thankfully, my team found their ritual site and stormed the place with the full fury of the ZDF behind us, killing DOZENS of Blood Mages in the process. If only that contract ended just like that I would have been set for life...Of course, that didn't happen because fate has a sick sense of humor. I turned Drake due to exposure to the massive gathering of mana for the ritual, and I had no intention of becoming Ghostwalker's slave just to collect.[/spoiler]

[RowanTheFox]

Ok, so my friend made this for me and I am dying. I don't know where she pulled the original picture from.