OK, so not long after my last post in this thread, my internet shut down. I take this as an omen. Not the least of which because of the events in The Things We Do For Love, Parts 1 & 2. I'll put my point by point review in spoilers, since I know some of you Neo-Luddites out there don't like grabbing the PDF, and insist on (ugh!) hard copy.
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Ok, first off, as mentioned further up this thread, Fastjack seems to be having some mental lapses of late, even before this book. Myself, I don't chalk this up to old age so much as side effects from tangling with psychotropic IC when he burned the Dawkins Group's node to the ground. Remember, he took damage in that encounter, and wasn't even aware of it. Since that point, he's been apparently writing things and then forgetting them, and other unusual behavior.
Jackpoint PageLine items for Way of the Samurai and a Tir Tairngir book. This makes me smile. Same with the 'Runner's Black Book 2074' listing.
Enter the DragonNice bit of fiction here. Group of competent runners planned a run well, were kitted out, and then everything goes straight to hell in a handbasket. What do they do? Adapt to plan B without missing a beat, until a Dragon invites them in to its lair. Beyond setting the tone for the book, this is a great look at a really professional team at work, which we can always use more of.
War at 10,000 MetersAs I said before, this is where I started getting the impression that the whole world was in a drekload of trouble. Let's take it by the numbers.
1) The dragon fanatics have killed three thousand talismongers who dealt in dracoform reagents, as well as targeting magical groups who use them. They've started running out of active talismongers engaged in the practice that they can find, so some of them have started turning their attention on retired talismongers, and their families.
2) The battle for drakes is heating up. With anti-dragon forces targeting them, dragons are actually poaching drakes from eachother. Also, those drakes the Draco Foundation is sheltering? They're being trained to fight. More on that later.
3) Dragons are apparently targeting people for their ancestors engaging in some down-time dragon hunting. Not just killing them, but disappearing them, and erasing their entire financial histories, along with their families.
4) Dragons are battling over magical sites in the ring of Fire again. Big surprise, eh? In addition anti-dragon groups and the Corporate Court are looking in on the situation.
Now let's talk about the four main players in this dragon craziness.
Lofwyr - Leading the pro-dragon faction, he's actually facing forces on both sides, as he has to deal with not only Hestaby and her pro-metahuman faction, but also his brother Alamaise and his growing dragon supremacy faction. Alamaise and his followers have set up shop in GeMiTo, and are currently snaking on what is thought to be around 300 metahumans a DAY. S-K Europe is getting many, many calls by angry people who want Lofwyr to sort his brother out. Which means that his attention has to be divided between the two wings. Especially with Alamaise and his faction deliberately snubbing Lofwyr's requests, as Loremaster, for them to stop their frenzy, and even refusing to meet with him! Needless to say, Lofwyr isn't too happy with this situation.
Hestaby - The Orange Queen's been reeling from attacks on her political and financial empires, and the dragons have been stirring up unrest for her at home in the Northern Crescent. However, she seems to show no sign of backing down, regardless of the consequences. Indeed, she's gone on a speaking tour around the world, calling for dragons and metahumans to live and let live together. My personal take on her stance is that, in addition to being a dragon in the same mindset as Dunkelzhan, Hestaby has read the writing on the wall. Technology continues to advance, and metahumans are getting better and better at using magic, even finding ways to combine the two. Since the advent of FAB III, it has been clear that there are technological solutions to powerful magical threats. Even at this level of magic and tech, there are more than a few adult dragons who have been killed by metahumans, even without having access to the new crop of anti-dragon weapons that are coming to fruition. If dragonkind doesn't learn to live peacably with metahumanity, eventually they will be surpassed as metahuman magic and technology reaches levels that threaten even the great Dragons. And the simple fact is that there are more metahumans than there are dragons. If it came to all out war between metahumans and dragons, even today it would not go well for dragonkind. They might not lose completely, but they would be driven to the brink of extinction. My personal feeling is that both Dunkelzhan and Hestaby have seen this coming, which is why Hestaby is acting the way she is now. She's trying to save her race from wiping itself out with its own arrogance. Of course, prophets are rarely lauded by their fellows until after they're dead, so...
Ghostwalker - Oh fragging drek. Do I really need to say more? Anyways, we found out what he was doing on the metaplanes after sealing the rift. Seems he was able to reunite Zebulon, the Spirit of Denver, his mate. Kindof romantic, if you forget that he almost blew up a city to do it. Anyways, now that he's back, he's reached out to both Ryumyo and Sirrurg about making himself Loremaster. Also, there are changes in Denver. Remember those treaty negotiations? Now that Ghostwalker is back, those are back at square one, as he showed up for his first appearance after returning from the metaplanes at a ceremony starting the summit, and looked none too pleased to see that there were Azzies in the crowd. Perianwyr whisked the Azzies away using a Levitate spell capable of taking multiple people at "Oh crap that was fast!" speeds. While Peri's club in Denver hasn't been torched yet, word is that Ghostwalker's too mad at him to even think straight at the moment. Oh, and because of all this, the Treaty of Denver has expired. Which means that at any moment we could see a Second Great Ghost Dance War, with Denver at the center of it. Oh, and the whole NAN might go up in smoke, too. Also, summoning or banishing spirits in the Front Range Free Zone without a permit from Ghostwalker's Liason Office will get you imprisoned or expelled. Denver's becoming a bunker city with a "Denver vs. the World" attitude, and Ghostwalker reigns supreme.
Sirrurg - The Destroyer is still attacking Azzies, and is still managing to evade their attempts to kill him, despite all the magic and tech that the Azzies can throw at him. Which is no mean feat when you keep blowing up their stuff and eating their people. Oh, and Sirrurg is gaining dragon followers, as well. Including a few that have possibly defected from Aztechnology. His attacks on both sides of the CAS-Aztlan border have set the CAS on a course that seems hell bent on war with the Azzies, though Sirrurg is only an excuse for this, since what the CAS hardliners really want is the rest of Texas, and to join in the Azzie-stomping the dragons are doing.
Echoing the RoarHere we have a rundown on some of the people who aren't Great Dragons, and how they're sticking their noses in this mess. Remember that 'Oh drek' feeling you were probably getting reading through the last chapter? It ain't getting any better, I promise you.
Harlequin - The Laughing Man was one of two beneficiaries from Aina's estate, and got her home and title, now being the Earl of Arran. With the conflict between the Greats raging, Harlequin, one of the few Immortal Elves who didn't absolutely loath dragons, has apparently gotten it in his head to intervene in this. I really shouldn't have to say more than that for your "Oh drek"-o-meter to max out. Also, something's apparently happened to the elves who were present at Ghostwalker's ritual in DeeCee. They seem to be mentally linked somehow. And Frosty's apparently getting dreams that she talked with Arete about. I'll quote a bit here.
> Frosty is apprehensive to go into detail about what some of these portend, but I feel it is necessary to do it for her. The visions tell of an errant knight, a lost crusader, weaving a new banner of a master that has not been seen on this Earth since time immemorial. What was of the past will return, but the path and the journey are not the same, and what has been an unyielding march to war has now taken on the means of pilgrimage into the unknown future, a land the none have seen before. Knots are bound in hope where there was none, and the threads of Fate will cast off their old patterns and reweave themselves.
> Arete
The Laughing Man is no longer content to just play the fool, it seems. He's become driven, and intends to gather an army under the Last Knight of the Crying Spire. Oh, and either he hacked Frosty's link, or jacked her brain directly, because he posted in the file. Scared yet?
Ryan Mercury - Remember all those drakes the Draco Foundation has been sheltering from the Great Dragons? Well, old Quicksilver's been teaching them to fight, as though their lives depended on it. Mainly because they do. Oh, and here's something for you Earthdawn fans. Remember how, back in the day, drakes were made, not born? How the Great Dragons had to go to a lot of trouble with experimenting on humans to find a way to get drakes capable of breeding? Well, with drakes being in short supply now, some of the greats are making "True" drakes again. Yes, you heard that right. Oh, and Mercury somehow managed to get an adult dragon to pledge loyalty to him. Yes, you heard that right, too.
UCAS - President Colloton emerged from the little ceremony where Ghostwalker showed up with a raging mad on for dragons of all kinds, but especially for the white wyrm. And her SecDef is a guy called Dragonslayer, because he's actually killed a feathered serpent. Which ought to make the UCAS government really popular with dragons in the current climate. If that wasn't enough, they're prepping their own version of anti-dragon weaponry, as well. And she's got Shedim working as part of her intelligence apparatus. More than that, if Colloton decides to move against Ghostwalker, she's in the kind of mood that she may very well send an armored division or two straight across the Sioux by land to Denver. Remember when I said we could see war all over the fragging continent before this was through?
Nadja Daviar - When craziness involving Dragons is in the air, the Draco Foundation can't be far behind, right? Well, Nadja is reorganizing the Foundation, complete with new trustees, and a new Board of Visitors. And she deliberately snubbed Hestaby in the process (though KAM gets a seat at the table now). While Daviar isn't playing nice with Ghostwalker either, and would seem to be at odds with Lofwyr's camp, things are getting downright catty between the Orange Queen and the ice queen.
Johnny Spinrad - Really, the name says it all. But past the playboy style, he's still got an eye on Lofwyr, and has been trying to make inroads into new territories. Territories that just happen to have dragons in them. Dragons that might be convinced to join the remaining network left behind by the deaths of Nachtmeister and Graft-Beloit. He's making overtures to both Wuxing and Ryumyo, as well as any other force that might like to take Lofwyr down a peg or ten.
Corporate Court - A sustained conflict between the great dragons is not good for business. Especially when some of those dragons sit in positions of power or have influence over a good portion of the Corporate Court. This means that the C5 is looking for ways to monitor and control the situation. Unfortunately, this year, it seems that it is S-K's turn to chair the committee. Ares and the Japanacorps aren't likely to sit on the sidelines for too long, though, since they don't want to get dragged into a mess that isn't their own making. So expect some pushback against S-K before long. Oh, and the Azzies are likely going to make a play, too. Why? Because they're Azzies. That's what they do.
Trickle-down EffectsAnd this is where the people only slightly related to the dragon drama still get paid.
Seraphim - You know how the Seraphim, by and large, were almost zealously loyal to Cross, back before he bit it in the Crash? Well, not all of them are taking the changes well, it seems. The Fallen (including some who may be inside Ares already) are out to take down everyone and everything that was involved in taking down CATCo. Knight is at the top of the list, of course, but Davjar, Rhonabwy, and Hestaby are also on their hit list. They literally just want to see all these people burn.
Money trails - Someone is gearing up to try and take major pieces out of the Yakuza, either to strike at Ryumyo, or as a way of saying "Yes, I can screw with your toys at any time. Now give me what I want." This is the same kind of test run you saw Arty boy go through before he turned to his real target.
Shedim - The Rift is closed, which means no more shedim can come through. This is the silver lining to some nasty-ass clouds. But yes, the worldwide population of Shedim is going down.
Next follows a few chapters on certain dragons, but the ones that interested me most were the ones on Damon, Henequen, and the Sea Dragon. Daman's still up to his partying ways, though he seems to have settled down a little in Boston. Henequen is still in Cheyenne, and intends to stay, regardless of what the mafia thinks about that.
I could go on, but I think I'll just leave you with this one final spoiler that fills me full of anticipation and dread. Harlequin declares war on Ghostwalker, as the Last Knight of the Crying Spire, and lets the wyrm know that he intends to burn his entire kingdom to the ground. And he waltzed into Ding Chavez's office at that Azzie HQ in Tenochtitlan to enlist Aztechnology to help him with his 'dragon problem'.
You may all now drek yourselves.
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