Dunkelzahn
The Dunkelzahn Infodump
If dragons are beasts of legend, why is it that modern man can periodically flip to a cable channel and find one alternately babbling about some fascinating (to him) facet of human society or having a good-natured chat with the celebrity of the moment? Why does a dragon, once the bane of Saint George, nowadays have his own talk show?
»»>(The following material was posted to Shadowland in February of 2054. I dug it out of the archives because it provides useful background on the "Big D." Read carefully, chummers, cuz there's a chance the wyrm might actually be running the UCAS after this election. The profile is excerpted and abridged from the far-too-hip-for-its-own-good online edition of the infozine MetaTrends (January 2054). Some of the information has been disputed by various sources, so believe at your own risk. As always, readers are invited to post their own comments and observations-I left in the posts from '54 that seemed pertinent. Believe them at your own risk as well.)««<
-Captain Chaos (08:21 :51/3-16-57)
» »>(When a great dragon asks for his own trideo show, are you gonna tell him no?)««<
-X-VP (02: 13: 13/2-25-54
» » >(If a great dragon decides to run your country, are you gonna tell him no?)««<Dunkelzahn first appeared in Denver on January 27,2012, only weeks after the first modern dragon sightings. Even as the military tried to seal the area around Cherry Creek Lake where the great dragon snoozed, reporters from all over the globe fought for an interview with this strange new being. Anchorwoman Holly Brighton won the contest, and the resulting interview-twelve hours and sixteen minutes of mind-boggling questions and answers between Brighton and the towering dragon Dunkelzahn-gave humanity its first real clue to the breadth and depth of the Awakening. Even though Dunkelzahn was amazed and bewildered by the strange world into which he had awakened, the dragon still had enough savvy to insist on a cut of the profits from the sale of the interview tapes. It is estimated that those sales alone netted the dragon more than $13 million dollars-tax-free.
- SPD (11 : 19:23/3-16-57
Not long after the historic Brighton interview, Dunkelzahn hooked up with the first of his three (to date) " interpreters." Though the dragon quickly learned to communicate in English (with the assistance of magic), getting his comments recorded on videotape proved a tremendous task. Dragons, we soon discovered, do not "speak" as humans do; instead, they communicate via a "thought-voice" clearly understandable by all those to whom a dragon chooses to speak. Unfortunately, microphones turned out to be immune to thought-speak. The solution appeared in the unlikely form of a local Denver resident, a young man named John Timmons, who agreed to "speak" for the dragon by relating the words Dunkelzahn spoke into his head.
Though Dunkelzahn maintained a business relationship with Holly Brighton until her retirement in 2042, for years Timmons remained the dragon's voice in the media and in public. In return, Timmons' own words became a major force in the post Awakened Protestant revival in North America. Timmons preached tolerance and clear thinking against a tide of religious reactionism, an unusual position in the newly Awakened world full of frightened and bewildered people.
Timmons' relationship with the dragon ended in 2022 when the interpreter was killed by an assassin with connections to the burgeoning anti-metahuman movement. Police could not question the killer; he had made the mistake of taking his shot in Dunkelzahn's presence and paid for it with his life. Eyewitnesses reported that the dragon reduced the gunman to his "component flaming atoms" with a glance. Critics of the dragon's act raised a harsh question: why, with all his power, couldn't Dunkelzahn have stopped the assassination from occurring? The usually verbose dragon made no comment at the time and remains silent on the matter.
»»>(That's cuz he arranged for the head shot. Timmons had been a valuable mouthpiece, but he was starting to feel his power as a leader in the chaotic post-Awakened Protestant movement. Word is that he was preparing to end his relationship with the dragon and reveal all.)« « <
-Gossip Hound (08:22:09/2-24-54)
»»>(This is a fraggin' great dragon we're talking about! First off, you don't think he could have kept Timmons quiet if he'd wanted to?? (Assuming there was a reason to do that in the first place,) Second, if you're one of the most powerful magical beings on the planet, why rely on some goon with a cheap hunting rifle? Timmons nearly survived, you know.)««<
-Untouchable ( 11 :28:42/3- 1-54)
»»>(What, dragons don't know healing magic ??)««<
-Doctor Dave (10: 19:27/ 3-5-54)
Dunkelzahn remained without a "voice" until 2028. In the spring of that year, the dragon began speaking through a young woman named Terri Ann Riberio. Like Brighton, Riberio was a neophyte reporter when the dragon "discovered" her. Perky and personable, Riberio proved popular enough to launch a successful , if not critically noteworthy, acting career in 2039.
»»>(Interesting that Riberio has to date refused-despite offers of tremendous sums of money-to create a tell-all program about her years with the dragon, let alone be interviewed about the subject. Integrity, or something else?)««<
- Publisher (03: 17: 15/ 2-26-54)
»»>(A manuscript on the subject does exist, I understand. Riberio keeps it as insurance: if she dies under ':mysterious circumstances," it goes public . A common and usually successful technique, Of course, should Dunkelzahn find it ". )««<
- Winner ( 12:01 :57/ 3- 1-54)
>>>>>(1 bet the Big D would like to get his paws on that manuscript now. Something like that could really mess up a successful politic al campaign.)««<
-Tolliver ( 14:54: 13/3-22-57)
During the five years prior to hooking up with Terri Riberio, Dunkelzahn spent vast sums to create his current "lair": a sprawling retreat on the shores of Lake Louise in the Athabaskan Council, southwest of Edmonton. The dragon's estate serves as a tourist attraction and high-technology entertainment resort as well as the dragon's personal domain. Though the legal basis for Dunkelzahn's claim to the land remains unclear, there is little doubt that the great dragon is lord over all he surveys,
The resort's technological wonders are created and operated by VisionQuest, a former Ares Macrotechnology VR lab purchased by Dunkelzahn in 2037. The dragon seems fascinated by the concept of virtual reality, its applications and implications. Dragons, he is quoted as saying, have a unique understanding of reality, and so anything that claims to create or define reality is of great interest to him.
»»>(I 've heard that Dunkelzahn attempted a direct neural-tap VR feed with no success. Guess he's stuck using those stupid archaic helmets and gloves. Quite an image, eh?)««<
-Bowman (07 :26:30/3- 1-54)
»»>(The dragon 's purchase of VisionQuest is interesting, too. Nobody is really sure why Ares would sell off such a cutting-edge subsidiary to an unknown like Dunkelzahn.)«« <
-Stock (13:3: 12/3-20-57)
»>>>(Like we keep saying-a great dragon wants to buy or do something, you gonna tell him no?)««< -SPD (20: 14:53/3-23-57)
>>>>>(Not that simple. A megacorp outclasses a great dragon by for. Ares didn 't sell off VisionQuest out of fear-It's a sure bet Damien Knight got something more than nuyen out of the deal. They say never cut a deal with a dragon, but if anyone could do it and come out on the winning side, it's Knight.)««<The dragon's current "voice" is Nadja Daviar, an Eastern European elf with a mesmerizing voice and no personal history on record. She has served the dragon since 2039 and reigns over the Lake Louise resort like a queen. Holly Brighton, who lives at the resort and still wields considerable power within the dragon's sphere of influence, is frequently at odds with Daviar. Brighton's greatest influence seems to be over Dunkelzahn's periodic talk commentary trideo program, "Wyrm Talk."
- MidKnight (02: 13:20/3-25-57)
» » >(I've heard rumors that Daviar has some connection to the Polish intelligence community, though no information beyond that has ever surfaced. I'll bet Brighton would pay mucho dinero for that kind of paydata.)<<<<<
-Ex-Pat (03:02:09/3-12-54)
»>>>(No personal history? Has anyone out there got anything on Daviar? Who is she? Where did she come from?)« «< - Curious George (20: 11 :30/3-20-57)
»»>(Sorry, Georgie, but there's nothing to be found. I know some people who've looked real hard. Daviar's more than just the average SINless-type-someone's taken great pains to erase any traces of her background and done a damn fine job of it, too.)«« <The dragon began the semi-annual program the year following Brighton's retirement from media and has so far produced more than two dozen editions. Topics range from trite celebrity interviews and profiles to frighteningly insightful commentaries on culture and society.
-Sweeper (02: 13:45/3-29-57)
»»>(Dunkelzahn used his talk show to announce his candidacy to an estimated trideo audience of more than 300 million viewers worldwide. The announcement stunned the world with its implications, but the UCAS has recognized him as an official candidate. (After all, who wants to tell a great dragon no?))«<<<
- Captain Chaos (15:23:04/3-20-57)
»»>(Okay, I’ll bite. Why is he doing it? Why is a great dragon running for fraggin' president?)««<
-Bung (20:18:22/3-21-57)
»>>>(Why is Lofwyr in charge of Saeder-Krupp? Why are dragons influencing the government of Amazonia? Why did Aden destroy Tehran? Why did Sirrurg destroy EuroAir 329? Power, chummer, pure and simple. Dragons like to have power and to be in charge.)««<
- Eastman (18:04:30/3-22-57
»»>(But Dunkelzahn's not like that. He doesn't throw his weight around or play "me dragon, you puny human." I think he genuinely likes us and really wants to help us out. I'm on the stage crew for "Wyrm Talk" and I've actually worked around "the Big D" (as we call him on the set). He's one of the best people I've ever worked with. He's genuinely interested in us, more than any human boss I've ever worked for. He's got my vote.)««<
- BestBoy (19:56:19/3-24-57)
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