From:	Jessica Grota <grota@*********.COM>
Subject:	Re: A question of Grand Scale (up front answers)
Date:	Sun, 10 May 1998 20:14:20 -0400

Ereskanti wrote:


<snipsnip>
>
> For example. Did you and your friends realize that this critter is sentient,
> and in SR's Universe, Sentient beings, especially those that have a SIN (as
> long as it defeats the attempts to determine it's legality, it works) have
> rights and killing such is considered an act of Murder???



Whew. Okay. Well the dragon attacked the PCs first, so I think this
would be self defense. Plus, at the time that the PCs came upon the
dragon, it was eating people. I think that justifies killing it with no
problems. The dragon saw it coming, we just had a damn good (and
extremely crazy) rigger. No one expected him to try ramming the dragon,
least of all those of us in the plane.

> Back to your question though ... what exactly did they use to remove the hide
> also? dikote circular saws? IF the armor value of the hide does not
> deteriorate, that's stuff HARDENED, and simply hacking at it with a sword or
> an axe in the hands of a troll is NOT going to work.

The standard way to remove dragon scales! Slip a dikote knife under the
scales and pry until the flesh underneath gives. I agree, once the
dragon is dead, the magical armor goes away, much to my dismay.


>
> Additionally, if the dragon died via Plane Crash (to it's Skull no less :), I
> doubt that any teeth are going to usable, let alone the tongue or brain.
> Also, jarring may have ripped the region around the neck, rendering that hide
> material unusable. The wings can be fragile (the membranes at least), and may
> have torn, also they are not necessarily as durable as the remainder of the
> body, and are not likely usable for "armor material" after your conflict.

Claws and some of the scales, along with a few bottles of blood, were
what we managed to save.
Of course, I also have reason to believe that the fact we made out like
bandits is ill-fated, and our GM is considering crashing our plane into
the ocean next session. So who knows, maybe the point is moot after all?


>
> Back to the legality and reputation problems ... if you will.
>
> Any other dragon that sees material made from this is going to be a VERY bad
> thing. Oh sure, Metahumans may think it's cool. But what about dragons and
> their allies? Let's see, we no longer have the Big D, but that means didly.
> Lofwyr, Arleesh, Hestaby, and Masaru are all major players in the Shadow
> Markets. And their list of contacts are IMMENSE to say the least.



That's why I think a dragon scale vest would best be concealed, perhaps
painted/coated/etc to disguise it. And NOT worn to afternoon tea with
Hestaby. :>


> In short, the armor may or may not work, but there are LOTS of other options
> that are a HELL of a lot cooler for the role-playing aspects...
>
> -K

Ah, well. I just had to try it. Anyway, can you imagine a bunch of
greedy little capitalist runners NOT trying to turn a profit from a
great stroke of luck? :) Something tempting about the idea of an 8/8
armored vest...ah, well. :P

--Jett