NEWS

What if....?

  • 139 Replies
  • 31868 Views

jonathanc

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 423
  • All cruelty springs from weakness.
« on: <04-04-12/1301:42> »
Growing up with old Marvel comics, I have a special place in my heart for "What If?" scenarios, so I was wondering: What if Dunkelzahn never died?

Now, I know that his death was related somehow to trying to stop the Horrors through something called the Dragonheart, but let's examine a few alternate scenarios:


1. Dunkelzahn returns in the mid to late 2070's, restored by some weird Artifact or other that the Draco Foundation located. What would he do? How would the other GD's react?

2. Dunkelzahn's death was faked, and he has been behind the Draco Foundation all along. What has he been doing all this time?

3. Dunkelzahn's death never happened. He either survived the explosion, or the explosion never happened. What would an active, public Dunkelzahn with the might of the UCAS behind him have done? How might the 2070's look differeng if this occurred?

Mirikon

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 8986
  • "Everybody lies." --House
« Reply #1 on: <04-04-12/1359:31> »
I can tell you one thing. Dunkelzhan in the White House means the New Revolution would NOT have made a play for DeeCee during the Crash.
Greataxe - Apply directly to source of problem, repeat as needed.

My Characters

CitizenJoe

  • *
  • Ace Runner
  • ****
  • Posts: 1333
« Reply #2 on: <04-04-12/1406:02> »

1. Dunkelzahn returns in the mid to late 2070's, restored by some weird Artifact or other that the Draco Foundation located. What would he do? How would the other GD's react?

This may have already been covered.  But you know those dragon bones that D mentioned in his will?  Those may have been the body of Ghostwalker.  D may have been planning to use them for his own return but GW got there first.

jonathanc

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 423
  • All cruelty springs from weakness.
« Reply #3 on: <04-04-12/1415:20> »

1. Dunkelzahn returns in the mid to late 2070's, restored by some weird Artifact or other that the Draco Foundation located. What would he do? How would the other GD's react?

This may have already been covered.  But you know those dragon bones that D mentioned in his will?  Those may have been the body of Ghostwalker.  D may have been planning to use them for his own return but GW got there first.

If all that is required is to have dragon bones, they Dunk could return using his own bones (he donated his body to his own magical research foundation). A tiny part of me is hoping that some of the payoff for all of this Artifact stuff is D showing up through some kind of Macguffin. It'd be especially juicy if he popped up in time to be factor in the Hestaby/Lofwyr kerfuffle.

CanRay

  • *
  • Freelancer
  • Mr. Johnson
  • ***
  • Posts: 11141
  • Spouter of Random Words
« Reply #4 on: <04-04-12/1606:17> »
I can tell you one thing. Dunkelzhan in the White House means the New Revolution would NOT have made a play for DeeCee during the Crash.
Oh, you can't stop extremists.  Just means they'd have been eaten and the Oval Office would need to have been rebuilt.

The thing I'd want to know about is how well President Dunkie and Ghostwalker would have gotten along.  UCAS supporting actions against Aztlan???
Si vis pacem, para bellum

#ThisTaserGoesTo11

Nath

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 587
« Reply #5 on: <04-04-12/1734:41> »
Dunkelzahn death near the Watergate left no body. He edited his Will to bequest the Dragonheart to Ryan Mercury, showing he considered it could end this way, but he nonetheless left the article bequesting his body to the Dunkelzahn Institute.

1. Dunkelzahn returns in the mid to late 2070's, restored by some weird Artifact or other that the Draco Foundation located. What would he do? How would the other GD's react?
It would probably depends a lot on how the other dragons would consider the magic used. If "tainted" in any way, Dunkelzahn would be an outcast, and would thus likely keep a low profile rather than face an alliance against him. Either way, Dunkelzahn may not be the first dragon to pull such a trick: Dunkelzahn may be the most powerful dragon of the modern era, he is not the only to ever have lived and died.

Ghostwalker sets at least one sort of precedent we know of. Even if it's not clear if he was considered as practically dead or simply "on vacation", none of the other dragons denied him his status, and they even acepted is demand of a replay for Dunkelzahn Rite of Succession.

2. Dunkelzahn's death was faked, and he has been behind the Draco Foundation all along. What has he been doing all this time?
You give the answer to your own question here: he did lead the Draco Foundation all along. Except maybe for some behind-the-scene magic stuff, the Draco Foundation wouldn have had everything Dunkelzahn wanted done.

In this scenario, it's quite likely Nadja Daviar simply hide with her master between 2064 and 2073.
 
3. Dunkelzahn's death never happened. He either survived the explosion, or the explosion never happened. What would an active, public Dunkelzahn with the might of the UCAS behind him have done? How might the 2070's look differeng if this occurred?
Kyle Haeffner retained an unprecedentely high popularity at the end of his second term, and there is no limit to the number of term a president may serve in the UCAS. Had Dunkelzahn enjoyed similar levels of popularity, there would probably have been a growing fear among political opponents of a dragon ruling UCAS for millenias to come. I can see him possibly serving a third term (as there are human precedents for that), but too many people would feel uncomfortable with a dragon becoming the first president of the union to serve four terms.

On the corporate scene, there would have been no war between Ares and Cross, at least as long as Dunkelzahn forbid Damien Knight to move against Lucien Cross. I think Fuchi break-up was unavoidable. Villiers, Nakatomi and Yamana already were at each others' throat prior to Dunkelzahn's death, and Renraku already had Brightlight works underway to encroach on Fuchi market shares.

Without the Watergate Rift, Ghostwalker and shedim may have been unable to return. If Ghostwalker nonetheless returned through another mana anomaly (Crater Lake?), there could be a heated argument between the two brothers. Afterall, Dunkelzahn let Aztechnology controls a part of Denver area, a place Ghostwalker vowed to protect.

jonathanc

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 423
  • All cruelty springs from weakness.
« Reply #6 on: <04-05-12/1211:42> »
Dunkelzahn death near the Watergate left no body. He edited his Will to bequest the Dragonheart to Ryan Mercury, showing he considered it could end this way, but he nonetheless left the article bequesting his body to the Dunkelzahn Institute.
Maybe it's possible to discover his body? I remember hearing some kind of theory that he was alive and somewhere in the Metaplanes, fighting the Horrors.

Crimsondude

  • *
  • Freelancer
  • Prime Runner
  • ***
  • Posts: 3086
« Reply #7 on: <04-05-12/1239:34> »
His physical body was vaporized in the explosion.

CanRay

  • *
  • Freelancer
  • Mr. Johnson
  • ***
  • Posts: 11141
  • Spouter of Random Words
« Reply #8 on: <04-05-12/1306:43> »
His physical body was vaporized in the explosion.
Which means we all know he isn't dead.  No body, he's still alive, just waiting to come back.  ;D
Si vis pacem, para bellum

#ThisTaserGoesTo11

jonathanc

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 423
  • All cruelty springs from weakness.
« Reply #9 on: <04-05-12/1311:14> »
Any explosion sufficient to atomizing a fully-grown Great Dragon, bones and all, should have caused WAAAAY more collateral damage.

Mirikon

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 8986
  • "Everybody lies." --House
« Reply #10 on: <04-05-12/1316:07> »
In Artifacts Unbound, Harlequin says that Dunkelzhan used a nuke to kill himself (and likely kept the blast contained by means of a powerful ward).
Greataxe - Apply directly to source of problem, repeat as needed.

My Characters

jonathanc

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 423
  • All cruelty springs from weakness.
« Reply #11 on: <04-05-12/1332:06> »
In Artifacts Unbound, Harlequin says that Dunkelzhan used a nuke to kill himself (and likely kept the blast contained by means of a powerful ward).
Why would he bother getting elected President if he was going to kill himself on his inauguration night? Seems weird.

Crimsondude

  • *
  • Freelancer
  • Prime Runner
  • ***
  • Posts: 3086
« Reply #12 on: <04-05-12/1340:47> »
That wasn't part of the plan, be he felt that he had to call a last second audible.


In fact, there are only three living people that know the truth: Harlequin, Ryan Mercury, and Nadja Daviar. Quite a few others have their suspicions, of course.
« Last Edit: <04-05-12/1342:34> by James Meiers »

Mirikon

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 8986
  • "Everybody lies." --House
« Reply #13 on: <04-05-12/1357:36> »
The simple explaination, Jonathan, is that Names and Titles have power. And that power can be channeled into certain acts, allowing someone to do things normally above their level.
Greataxe - Apply directly to source of problem, repeat as needed.

My Characters

Nath

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 587
« Reply #14 on: <04-05-12/1507:52> »
Any explosion sufficient to atomizing a fully-grown Great Dragon, bones and all, should have caused WAAAAY more collateral damage.
If I remember, the description made in the Stranger Souls novel suggests the explosion range was somehow limited by a magical effect of some sort, leaving Nadja Daviar, Carla Brooks and the other persons standing in fron of the Watergate shocked by unharmed.

Why would he bother getting elected President if he was going to kill himself on his inauguration night? Seems weird.
The Dragonheart was an emergency contingency plan if the Aztlan blood mages were to find an artifact called the Locus and started a ritual with it. It's not clear when Dunkelzahn learnt about the locus, the blood mages effort to find it, their goal, and when he created the Dragonheart. All we know from Stranger Souls is that he learnt (from Ryan Mercury) that they had found the locus just minutes before his death.

It's possible Dunkelzahn didn't know about the Locus threat when he announced he would run for presidency in March 2057. Even when the posibilityt he had to died appeared, he may have considering withdrawing from the election during the campaign would be the worst solution. Kyle Haeffner may not have been able to win the election on his own after such a blow, and Kenneth Brackhaven would have won.
A while ago, Michael Mulvihill, then SR lead designer, also suggested Dunkelzahn grew too confident in his ability and network of operatives to delay and block Oscuro operations.

Finally, there's also the aforementioned theory, based on Earthdawn era magic, that titles convey power. Thus, inauguration as President of the United Canadian and American States would have allowed Dunkelzahn to tap into a large amount of mana.