Part 13: Heading Off to Work

Part 13 - Heading Off to Work







Previously on Dragonfall: We learned that we're all probably going to die and we need to put together 50 thousand nuyen in order to maybe find the one guy who can maybe do something about it, maybe, assuming they're even alive. And because we're not buddies with ultra-rich CEOs with spirit pest problems, we're gonna have to do some old-fashioned shadowrunning to make that money. Quite a bit of shadowrunning in fact, as the majority of the game consists of doing missions in order to pay Alice (and sometimes for other reasons). Once we have the money together and say go, Paul will press the big red "start endgame" button on his keyboard which'll immediately cancel all unfinished missions and set us on the path towards the finale.

But for now that's a long, long ways ahead. We have a great many perfectly ordinary milk runs that are sure to always go smoothly and 100% according to plan between there and now. And we'll spend this short update getting started on that.



We're free to choose the order in which we do the missions we're given, though of course not all of them will be available from the start. We'll be picking up most of our "official" jobs forwarded by Paul from our mission computer here, but some will also come from other sources.

Speaking of which, someone's got a message for us.





Mysterious, and definitely not one of Paul's. We should probably go check out whatever this is about.



We also get the notification that the antiquities delivery schedule we put up for sale last time has sold for a decent sum. It's possible to spend your own personal money to work towards Alice's fee and reach the 50k goal faster, but there's little reason to do so unless you're speedrunning and want to deliberately skip as many missions as possible. Simply finishing enough of Paul's jobs will get you there eventually as he automatically takes a cut from the reward money.

Now, let's see what's hot on the message boards today.





- Tolstoi <04:13:58/11-04-54> [There's one on Torstraße. Bring a bouquet of roses, elves love a romantic.]

- Ruby <02:54:23/11-04-54> [The elf clubs I know of are members only due to creepy groupies... like you. Not really appealing when a guy is only after them for the shape of their ears.]






- Maelstrom <18:55:02/11-04-54> [Never thought I'd see you admit to a mistake on here. Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep my eyes open. Will FWD any info I come across if you're still looking to collect from the guy.]

- Blitz <19:31:47/11-04-54> [RE: PROSHOT: Sent you some surveillance footage. Is this your man?]

- ProShot <20:13:29/11-04-54> [Sure is. Nice one. I'll split the take with you if this lead pans out. Good to find there's still some honor among runners.]

We still need a decker so Blitz better not get his brain melted while shitposting.



That's it for now. When playing the game normally people generally accept all available missions (of which there are 4 in total at this stage) and then go do them one after another, but for the purpose of keeping things straight in this LP format we'll only be picking them up as we do them. Thus we'll ignore the other available jobs for now and go look into this invitation we got.







On our way to Cafe Cezve we stop by Aljernon's place in the hopes that he'll know something about Feuerschwinge. And also in the hopes we'll get something resembling direct explanations if he does.



Also I don't think I ever showed off what the back area of the shop looks like. Aljernon presumably uses the summoning circle to conjure up spirits of smugness in order to consume their essence.

Hello again. May I help you?

Aljernon, what do you know about the Great Dragon Feuerschwinge?



Even the concept of time occasionally just throws its temporal hands in the air and goes "man I just cannot fucking deal with this guy right now."

She was among the first of the Great Dragons to Awaken, and the first to be killed by metahumanity. Or so the story goes.

You don’t buy that?

I take nothing at face value. It is one of the secrets of my longevity. History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon. Truth is something else...



When a Great Dragon falls, the sound resonates across time and space.

And therefore you would know?

[He opens his hands.] I am merely suggesting that the story is incomplete.



Nebelherr actually awakened in a Bavarian beer hall, which probably makes him the Most German Dragon. He and Kaltenstein later had a bit of a tussle when he tried to stop the latter from following Feuerschwinge (who used to be Kaltenstein's consort) into the SOX. Of course on account on being just a lame normal dragon fighting the physically biggest Great Dragon of them all, Nebelherr would've gotten his dumb ass utterly trashed had Lofwyr not appeared to help him tag-team ol' Coldstone into submission.

He's such a nice man that Lofwyr, having a fellow dragon in his debt must not have even crossed his mind at the time.

Sounds like she woke up grumpy.

Angry, deranged, or something else. What motivates a being such as her? No one knows. Feuerschwinge was never engaged in... dialogue. German military forces are said to have killed her over the SOX the year she emerged - this, after months of fire, devastation, and terror. Her body was never recovered.

Whenever I hear, “the body was never recovered,” I immediately think, “faked her own death.”

Beware the holovids, my friend. They will rot your brain. Nevertheless, it is possible that the Firewing still exists.



Great, going up against a plain murderous Great Dragon would've been downright boring, but a little radiation is sure to spice things up nicely. Ooh, maybe she's grown like three heads so we can get turned into ash with three times the speed? That's a solid two-thirds cut from the time we'll spend dying an agonizing death!

You seem like a connected guy. Think any of your magical friends might know more?

[Aljernon crosses his arms across his chest. Considers.]

That is always a possibility. The sum of my knowledge is vast, but it remains finite.



Hopefully that's just a red herring, no more crazy cults for us please. With different dialogue paths he also mentions rumors about her being seen near Iceland and her having a lair in the Harz Mountains that no one's ever found.

Now, is there anything else that you need to know?

Guess that's it for now. See you around.



Well none of that was particularly encouraging. We need to find something else to think about than dragons for a while.



Perhaps this guy can help, he sure doesn't look like a dragon at least.



I feel like everyone knows someone who looks exactly like Luca here. Also with that surname you can bet he's gotten enough 'I don't even know her' jokes to last a lifetime.

Let me get right to business. My organization would like to retain your services for the indefinite future. But first, we're asking you to go on a trial run - an "audition" of sorts - to prove that you're the right woman for the job.



"Rewarded" and "bonus" are definitely our kind of vocabulary.

So, have I piqued your interest? Will you accept our offer?

Who do you work for? How did you know where to find me?

My organization knows everything worth knowing in Germany, including this small pond that is Berlin. It is in our best interests, however, to remain unknown to the world at large. For the time being, that is all that you need to know.

It's probably not all that relevant anyway.

And what does this "audition" pay?

I can offer you fifteen hundred nuyen, but only if you complete the full audition - the run, and post-run interview - to our satisfaction. If you fail to perform up to our expectations, you will receive no pay, and no further offers of work.

That isn't much.

It's an audition. The purpose of this trial is for *you* to prove your worth to *us,* not the other way around.

That kind of pay isn't enough to make any kind of dent in the Alice fund, so if we choose to take this job it'll be going into our own pocket.

Of course, you're free to decline if you wish. But know that there are hundreds of runners in Berlin who would kill for the opportunity to work for us. We came to you because we think that we see a glimmer of potential. If you prove us wrong, we will happily take our offer elsewhere.

We need all the friends and money we can get right now, guess this is as good a place to start as any.

Fine, I'm in.

Good.

[He smiles.]

*Very* good.



Sounds like a worthy cause at least, don't always get that luxury in this business.

My organization has no more desire to see Berlin fall to the corporations than you do. However, we are hesitant to act on our suspicions without proof. This is where you come in.

So you want me to spy on him, then.



Planting some bugs doesn't sound too bad either, maybe if we play our cards right we can even keep things from ever escalating into violence. What's this about a team though?

Take the U-Bahn to Frankfurter Tor, and go alone. The rest of your team will meet you there.

Hang on a second. I already have a team.

You do, yes. But they are unsuitable for this job. Remember, this is a test of *your* abilities. Not Eiger's, or Glory's, or Dietrich's.

Yep, that's the whole team alright. Just us and our three trusted comrades.

How do you know their names?



Guess there's always gotta be a twist. Running with strangers right after we got a full team together again isn't a particularly enticing idea, but if the people Luca represents are as influential as he claims they should at least have the resources to hire competent runners.

So. Will you work within the boundaries that I have described? Or will you turn down an opportunity that your fellow runners would kill for?

If it's that important to you, I'll work with your team.

Very good. The moment that you board the train to Frankfurter Tor, your test will begin. I would advise you to bring what you need in terms of medical supplies and ordinance - once you embark on your trial run, there will be no turning back.

Think you meant "ordnance" there, Luca. But that's alright, we're all speaking German here anyway.



What are you, an XCOM councilman all of a sudden? Fine, whatever.



Well, we have our first mission. An unofficial and a little unorthodox one, but flexibility is an important trait for a shadowrunner. Incidentally this is also our first mission which was added in Director's Cut and didn't exist in the original.



Still, a simple bugging job with a specialized team and the support of a powerful organization doesn't sound too tough. Maybe this is a sign of our luck finally starting to turn around.

Off we go!