[Moonshine Fox]

Lorebane is mostly correct. They are like mentor spirits for Technomancers. They don't help you submerge, but they do offer bonuses and drawbacks, like mentors do for mages. As with mentors, a TM and his Paragon are going to share philosophical leanings. A mage doesn't become loyal because he finds Dog, Dog finds him because he's loyal. Same idea with TMs and their Paragons.

And really, Critias? Popcorn? *pulls out bucket of fried chicken* If you can't at least get a bucket of KFC into the theater, your skills need work.

I once snuck a thermos of progresso. Do I win?

Got ya beat. Wolked in with a bag of Chinese food in hand once. When it doubt, act bold as hell!

[Mirikon]

Well done, Fox. Remember, acting shifty like you know you're trying to be sneaky is the quickest way to get caught.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

So with FastJack having vanished, do you think it would be a reasonable assumption to say that Dodger is now the world's most skilled hacker?

No.  Nor, in fact, would I place Fastjack as being the world's most skilled hacker.  In part, it's a matter of how the skills work, not just the theme.

Skillwise, Jack clearly had a 13 in one of his decking skills, but the question is 'which one?'  What was he most famous for?  IMO, he was most famous for being the toughest SOB you'd ever want to meet in cybercombat, so his Aptitude goes there.  Dodger might be in the 10-12 range on one or two of the skills, but though being good at sneaking around (per se), after Morgan came around he was simply never really dedicated to the job - he was dedicated to her.  I'd honestly put Dodger at 8-9, because when it started out, he had Morgan/Megaera doing half the work for him, and afterwards he made deals to open the doors and permit him to hunt.

Thematically, it's two-pronged - on one hand, you can't be the best at everything (and hacking has a whole handful of 'everythings' to be best at), and on the other hand, it's an 'any given Sunday' proposition.  When you've got the two best facing off, the skill difference is going to be miniscule, and luck - where you are, what the local IC is doing, how much signal noise or delay you happen to be dealing with, etc. etc. - enters into it far more than either of the two of you would like.  Fastjack was great, sure, but when he goes up against (it pains me to write this) Michael Sutherland in Wuxing's area, who's going to lose?  Fastjack, because Wuxing is Sutherland's home ground.    What if the test isn't combat, but information acquisition?

One wouldn't ask 'Who's the best street sam', because of similar reasons: best at what?  Fastest, most durable, can go the longest, best shot with an [Insert Weapon Here]??  Fastjack has a claim, but like Kane he definitely has the fame - which, IMO, means that those people who work their asses off to be both fantastic at their job AND quiet at it wind up getting the shaft in 'who's best' popularity contests, but will probably wipe the floor with the well-known guy when it comes down to brass tacks.

[Mirikon]

True. When doing a 'the best' kind of statement, it doesn't work over wide categories. You could have someone acknowledged as the best cat burglar, or the best assassin, or the best swordsman, but the best samurai or best adept is too vague.

[Stry]

Slightly off topic, but are spike babies the same as immortal elfs?

[PiXeL01]

No, Spike babies were elves and dwarves born before the awakening due to local spikes in the mana level. Immortal elves are/were elves who were alive and active through the fifth age even though the mana level was low. Whether their elvish features were visible or surgically altered might vary.
Immortal elves include Harlequin, Erahn the Scribe, the old leaders of both Tirs and possibly a few down in Africa.
Very, very few immortals have been born after the awakening, Frosty being one of the few.

[Lorebane24]

What about Aljernon, from the Shadowrun Return series?  Has that guy been in any of the tabletop content, or is he entirely a creation of HBS?

[PiXeL01]

Honestly I have never heard of him before.
Of course my lore is a bit weak

[Patrick Goodman]

He's an HBS original, near as I can tell.

[MijRai]

Aljernon...  Now that I see his name, this totally feels like a Shannara reference. 

[Lorebane24]

I dunno.  I just always feel awkward talking to him in-game because you can't bring him flowers.

[Patrick Goodman]

I dunno.  I just always feel awkward talking to him in-game because you can't bring him flowers.

+1 to you, g ood sir!

[DeathStrobe]

What about Aljernon, from the Shadowrun Return series?  Has that guy been in any of the tabletop content, or is he entirely a creation of HBS?

My assumption is he's a powerful free spirit that makes himself look like an elf and is kind of playing games with all the different protagonists. Though, him being one of the dozen Immortal Elves might make sense since we see him playing with the power players in Dead Man's Switch. I think Threats covered Immortal Elves a bit and said that there were around a dozen and only a few accounted for in lore, so it's possible he's one of the unaccounted IEs.

[Mirikon]

He need not be an immortal elf, but a disciple of one. That would get him in the proper circles. Sean Laverty and Ehran the Scribe both had students, even way back, I believe.

[Marzhin]

What about Aljernon, from the Shadowrun Return series?  Has that guy been in any of the tabletop content, or is he entirely a creation of HBS?

Now that Court of Shadows is out, I'm assuming Aljernon is actually a Fae, possibly even one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. That would explain why he's deemed important enough to hang out with Harlequin and Lofwyr at the end of Dead Man's Switch. That's how I plan to use him in my games anyway
He's actually based on (and named after) Aljernon Bolden, from Harebrained Schemes.