[Aryeonos]

I couldn't think of the right literary term, that's why I threw a couple out there. But if you order now, in just a few thousand years, Harlequin will save us all apparently.

This summer, one man against .... The Horrors ! In a trideo theatre near you!

[Mirikon]

That sounds pretty apocalyptic, I mean, what's the point of introducing a force like that? That doesn't seem like anything all the runners in the world could appose, as if the corporate back ally dealings and organ leggers weren't abysmal enough. I mean, there's the sun will blow up in a few billion years, but in just a few hundred HP Lovecraft shows up and kills everyone from here to parallel neptune, and there's nothin you can do about it. Why do that?

With a few exceptions, runners don't know about it. Heck, most of the Powers That Be don't know about it. The only ones who know what's coming are the Immortal Elves and Dragons, because they lived through it the last time. Well, and the people pulling the strings down in Azzieland.

If we make it sound apocalyptic, then we're probably lowballing things. Last time, at the height of the mana cycle, all the most powerful magical empires in the world could do is build magically sealed bunkers deep underground and pray that the Horrors didn't find a way to tunnel in (and in more than a few cases, they did). Even the great dragons could do nothing but hide in their lairs, and sleep it out. The only survivors on the surface world were the Blood Elves, who deliberately corrupted their bodies, binding plant spirits into their patterns. They did this so that the thorns that burst through their skin, causing them constant pain would make them taste bad to the horrors. That is the only reason they survived.

It should also be noted that Horrors need a certain mana level to 'cross over', but they don't need that level to operate once they're here. They started showing up a few hundred years before the Scourge really got going, and even after it was over, they were still around. In the current time, there are sites where the background count is high enough that it makes it easier for the Horrors to slip over. Places where Great Ghost Dance-level magic was being done, for instance. The adventure Harlequin's Back involved Harlequin taking a group of runners and throwing them to the metaplanes, and making them (hopefully) find a way to stop the Horrors from making a 'bridge' between their world and ours. Dunkelzhan later blew himself up to charge an uber-powerful focus that was used to smash that bridge, and possessed a cyberzombie before going to the metaplanes to sit and guard the remains of the bridge, Black Knight style. He did this because the Azzies (who were also involved with the Harlequin's Back module) found a power nexus, and were intending on using it for, you guessed it, bringing the Horrors over. The reason Dunkelzhan came down hard on blood mages in his will is because blood magic (especially blood magic rituals) raises the background count in the area. You get a blood magic ritual done at a power site during a mana spike, and Bad Things^tm happen.

This is one of the reasons why long-time players say that the Azzies are uber-evil. It isn't (just) their policy of backstabbing runners, or their well-publicized brand of over-enthusiastic vengeance, or that they have a near monopoly on the nastiest forms of blood magic, or the fact that they're the group most likely to turn into the Umbrella Corporation from the Resident Evil games. It is the fact that the cult pulling the strings behind Aztechnology (and therefore Aztlan) is a group of Horror worshipers that is looking to bring them over now, centuries before it is time. And they have been for decades, if not more.

[The_Gun_Nut]

A couple of things to note here:

First, as stated earlier, the Horrors are the big metaplot secret.  The top players in the background (and I mean, THE top players) know about them and are arranging things so that metahumanity will be prepared and might be able to fend them off in the future.  They aren't laying betting odds on it though.  There is big, if underground and subtle, support for the space program, through Ares, to get people out into space and space colonies and to find a way to allow the magically active to exist there without being torn apart by the mana warp of deep space.  This is one of the big, long-term goals.

Will the players, or any other person not on the dragon's or IE's rolodex be privy to this?  No, not unless the GM wants them to be.  And given how bad everyone has been spinning this (including me), no GM should seriously contemplate introducing this with less than a very mature and experienced group of players capable of dealing with high level intrigue and empire building.  Not everyone can do that (the only reason I could is because of my love of world building games like SimEarth, Civilization, and the like, but even I have limits), therefore not every gaming group can or should try it.  Talk long and hard with your group about such things before diving in.

Second, in the 4th world, the previous Scourge everyone is referring to, the most powerful Horror didn't make an appearance.  Known by many names: The Great Hunter, The Horror Worshiped as a Passion, The Hunter of Great Dragons, the Horror feared by even the most powerful great dragons and immortal elves is Verjigorm.  This entity is referred to in dragon legends as the creator of the Horrors (and possibly the dragons, themselves), and seeks to corrupt everything about the world the dragons have settled upon.  But, during the last mana cycle, it didn't make a showing.  It is known that it captured many dragons and great dragons and put them in astral cocoons to convert them into a Horror/dragon hybrid capable of Re-Naming, and thus reshaping, the world around them.

Well, given that Verjigorm is immortal, the long view suits such an entity.  Why release them after the peak of the cycle, when the majority of Horrors can't cross over to assist in the destruction/corruption of dragonkind and the world they live upon, when one can just wait until the next peak and saturate the world in corruption and death.

A bit of digging reveals that FASA (which is back in play after many years) will be creating three other "Earth" style games to add to the Earthdawn (4th world) timeline.  The tetrology of games will be:  Earthrise, Earthdawn, Earthdusk, Earthfall.  The first will be the age of dragons and their rule (rumor has it a player will be able to play a dragon, yes, a Shadowrun/Earthdawn power level dragon, take that as you will).  The second is the 4th age of heroes we keep referencing.  The third, Earthdusk, takes place after the time of Shadowrun during and just after the mana peak. We lose.  It's post-apocalyptic like the Deadlands: Hell on Earth game.  The fourth will be Earthfall, and will be full-on Exalted level of badassery power level.  Think troll Sky Raiders captaining space cruisers. The Horrors will be dealt with during this era, so other things are going on. We blow up the Earth so the Horrors no longer have a link to this universe.  It's kindof a darker setting.

It has been said, however, that the link between SR and ED will be severed, and each allowed to explore their own way as an alternate timeline sort of thing.  Which I think is the best way of doing it.  Your GM can link them together or not, as each group wishes them to be.

In closing, you can use the Horror connection, or not, in your game.  It's up to you and your group.

[Mirikon]

Oh, also forgot to mention, the aftereffects of magically sealing lots of holes in the ground is still being felt. Remember all that stuff that happened in LA (Corporate Enclaves), when the ground suddenly shifted, and the Deep Lacuna appeared out of nowhere? That was one of those underground refuges that I was talking about, suddenly coming back from being a 'half-step to the left', if you will. The fact that the Universities in LA have sent big spirits into the Lacuna, and they were getting violently disrupted tells us that something is down there. Considering that it has basically been a bottle sealed off since sometime in the last mana cycle, I'd say it is probably a Horror. Not one of the Named ones, certainly, but all the same...

[Sichr]

This, or some still functioning parts of caer`s defense grid.

[DarkLloyd]

This, or some still functioning parts of caer`s defense grid.

That's what I would put my money on.
Speaking of that Caer, which faction do you think is going finally lay claim to that thing and start trying to shore it up and get it ready again?
Also, as badass as the Horrors are, and they ARE badass, I think Technology will give us the edge this time. They are spirits after all and lasers are one of The best weapons against them. That, and if you can target one of the big ones thru a spotter, hit it with a Thor shot. Or Multiple Thor shots.
As was mentioned above I think our space bases and whatever weapons they can come up with by the next scourge I think we will do better this time. Oh we will still have to sequester our selves but I think the battle lines won't be pushed back so far on the next go around.

[RHat]

This, or some still functioning parts of caer`s defense grid.

That's what I would put my money on.
Speaking of that Caer, which faction do you think is going finally lay claim to that thing and start trying to shore it up and get it ready again?
Also, as badass as the Horrors are, and they ARE badass, I think Technology will give us the edge this time. They are spirits after all and lasers are one of The best weapons against them. That, and if you can target one of the big ones thru a spotter, hit it with a Thor shot. Or Multiple Thor shots.
As was mentioned above I think our space bases and whatever weapons they can come up with by the next scourge I think we will do better this time. Oh we will still have to sequester our selves but I think the battle lines won't be pushed back so far on the next go around.

It's technology that makes this cycle so important - they can't use the same strategy as in Earthdawn anymore, because the tech will make it way easier to find them.

[Sichr]

This, or some still functioning parts of caer`s defense grid.

That's what I would put my money on.
Speaking of that Caer, which faction do you think is going finally lay claim to that thing and start trying to shore it up and get it ready again?

IDN what faction is going to do the legal claim, well I know for sure who will be the first who will leave their footprints there: us. Runners. Deniable assets. And only long after our screams, bodies and nighmares are analyzed, described and danges disarmed by by another, possibly better informed vawe, some officials would finaly go there to take a look.

[Mirikon]

I'd look to Saeder-Krupp, NeoNET, or Telestrian, actually, unless the Azzies get there first. While the other megas might know something's down there, SK, NeoNET, and AZT are the only AAAs with some of the old Powers in a position to claim the find and know what to do with it. Telestrian has long been a favored tool of the immortal elves, and LA is not far from their stomping grounds. EVO (with Buttercup on the board) is also a possibility.

Amongst noncorps, the only real contenders would be the Draco Foundation, the DIMR, or the Atlantean Foundation, for the same reasons as the corps I named: old Powers in charge, able to influence the situation.

Regarding tech and horrors, that is certainly what Hestaby, amongst others, is hoping. The reason she doesn't want a war between dragons and metahumanity is because together they might be able to defeat the Enemy this time around, if the tech can just get to a point where it will be powerful enough.

[Sichr]

Azzies, namely Smoking Mirror, is already using the tunnels to infiltrate LA. There is a chance that their knowledge of what lies beneath is far more extensive than we imagine. On the other side, it is possible they use only smugglers ways for transportation meanings. And IMO smugglers are the types who are looking just for the way from point A to point B, so possibly they avoided deeper explorations. Well, LA is full of desperate people so I wont be surprised if some relicts from beyond had surfaced already ...

[Erdseele]

Sing to the horrors. If it sounds bad enough they might leave the pattern willingly. Problem solved.
@Sichr They could be tunnels left behind by Artificer who would make more sense being labeled as a toxic spirit.

[Marzhin]

After reading Storm Front, I have a distinct feeling that

the "free spirits" Chaos and Maelstrom are actually Horrors. I mean -- free spirits feeding on people's bad emotions, feared by the other spirits, and dangerous enough that Ghostwalker and Harlequin stop fighting each other and go "Oh crap"? If they're not Horrors, I don't know what they are...

[The_Gun_Nut]

If Icewing and Caimbuel are buddy cop movie'ing it for this...

Shit just got real.

[RHat]

If Icewing and Caimbuel are buddy cop movie'ing it for this...

Shit just got real.

...  Which one's "by-the-book" and which one's the lone wolf badass?

[zenbubble]

If Icewing and Caimbuel are buddy cop movie'ing it for this...

"He's a Great Dragon with a city at his feet.  He's an Immortal Elf with a penchant for Chaos.  Together ...

They Fight Horrors!"

-Chris