Glory

Glory is a character and crew member in Shadowrun: Dragonfall.

Background
A razor-clawed street samurai, Glory is a woman with little patience for screw-ups - and more than enough for shadowrunning. Glory is beautiful, in a waifish sort of way. Her features are almost elvish in their delicacy, but there's something cold about her that many find slightly unsettling. What's more unsettling is her chrome. Glory is rocking a heavy loadout of cyberware; from head to toe, she looks to be composed more of plastic and metal than she is of skin and bone. In the shadows, individuals such as this are anything but uncommon. But Glory's cyberware is first-generation, all of it. Bulky, invasive, practically museum pieces... this chrome was obsolete well before she was born.

Where was she born? Stuttgart, to a pair of IFMU wageslaves. Her mother was a good person. Her father... When she speaks of her past, the robotic quality in her falls apart and she sounds like an actual, human person. Strong emotions are warranted, as her father joined a fascist, hard-line cult to cope with the damage from the Euro-War: The Kreuzritters. As a child, she watched her father's drinking buddies get hammered, riled up, and then murder random elves, mages or dwarfs for fun. Then, she watched her mother drink herself to sleep - to forget. Other than that, life was pretty normal - until she hit 14 years of age.

She Awakened, gaining the ability to control the magical forces that permeated the world. Her parents learned of that by accident, though Glory doesn't recall just how. It doesn't matter to her. What does is her father's reaction to his daughter being a Hexe - a witch. He beat her. With his fists. His belt. And then a claw hammer. After what she says felt like an hour, she lay on the carpet, bleeding and broken. That wasn't the worst part. That came when her father spat on her, called her des Teufels Hure, the Devil's whore, and then promptly threw her out of the house. As she crawled away, he threatened that if he or his Kreuzritter goons ever saw her again, they'd destroy her the way the Berlin chapter organization treats heretics. Glory got out of Stuttgart that same day.

She wound up in Tübingen, counting on the university and the student community to help her blend in. It was also far enough from Stuttgart. The university hospital staff patched her up and set her on ther way. For the next few years, she lived on the streets as a de facto orphan. She didn't know how to use her magical talents, so she just drifted on - until her seventeenth birthday, when she met Marta. The two became friends - and eventually, Glory fell in love with her. She was the first person in years to really care about her, gave a damn about her life. It was Marta who told Glory about the Feuerstelle (Fire Place), a commune for impoverished, dispossessed youth. At first, Glory was angry, but soon she made her way outside Tübingen to Schönbuch, where the Feuerstelle was maintained, by a guy named Harrow. To a street kid, it was paradise. She and the rest of the kids were happy. Harrow played a big role, as his magnetic personality and natural charisma helped make the kids believe in him - and their own future.

All of her affection vanished when she joined Harrow's group. They listened to him like converts to a guru. Glory especially, as he took a special interest in her due to her abilities. Harrow was a follower of the Horned God which in truth was a Toxic Totem of the Adversary (which in normal conditions would advocate it's follower to overthrow authority and a perfect fit for Glory's ideals given her negative experiences), and taught Glory everything about channeling magic, summoning spirits, pagan traditions, Machiavellian philosophy and his warped interpretation of Nietzschean ethics. He then taught her how to connect with the Horned God. Glory became an integral part of the Feuerstelle cult, becoming Harrow's right hand, enforcer, and concubine - the latter role shared with many other girls, including Marta. She obeyed without question, completely brainwashed.

Glory learned to use power - and love it. She was responsible for torturing children who stepped out of line or weren't performing as expected. Eventually, she realized that they were worshipping not the Horned God - but the Adversary, the Devil himself. She didn't care. She loved Harrow and the Adversary, and helped them lure and corrupt the young - and murdering those who resisted. She doesn't cut herself any slack - she made those choices, although she notes that her father's cruelty and zeal may have caused her to posit that the Christian church is evil - and therefore, its polar opposite must be, if not good, then less evil.

It worked for her and the commune prospered. One day, she returned to Stuttgart with Harrow. At this point, the Feuerstelle cult was easily twice the size Glory found it in, as Harrow's indoctrinated servant girls lured in street kids easily, with promises of a safer life. And then, they were easily corrupted by the Adversary and his servants. As expected, a visit to Stuttgart meant that Glory would go to see her parents. She appreciated the irony of Christian fanatics snuffed out by a genuine servant of the Devil. Glory discretely disappeared at a gas station - and went to her family home on foot. The Adversary whispered into her ear, welling up the rage and the powers of fire within her. She summoned the flames, convinced that the person to open the door would be her father.

Her mother opened. Glory incinerated the one person in life who genuinely loved her and cared for her, all for the amusement of the Adversary. The spell broke. Harrow's hold over Glory was no more - but she wasn't free. She returned with Harrow and the recruits, fighting hard not to shriek and despair. That night, she broke into the commune's safe and made off with all of its resources. To Berlin. Getting over the wall into the Flux State was the easy part. Outwitting the Adversary?

That was much harder. The Adversary was bound to her soul. And so, she took drastic measures. She walked into the office of the first street doc and chose the bulkiest, most horrifying cyberware she could find. The doctor tried to argue against it, but she insisted. Destroying her essence was all that mattered.

And she did.

Unique Equipment

 * Glory's pistol is a Savalette Guardian. It does 10 DMG and has been customized to hold a 15 round magazine.
 * Glory's Hand Razors start out doing 7 DMG. 4 from her Strength and 3 from the razors themselves. Their damage will go up when she raises her Strength. They also cause bleeding damage.

Personal story

 * Glory is an enigma and unraveling her story will take a long time to complete. Note that in order to progress through her story, you need to press her a bit early on, not put it off till later, no matter how respectful it may seem. Don't be harsh and strict, though; it won't work as even with the the essence destroyed, the Adversary Totem despises authority from those who had sworn an oath to it. Do things right and it's possible to make her genuinely happy - a long way from the icy cold pit of nihilism she starts out from.
 * When she talks about her past, be respectful and considerate. Glory responds well to kindness - not so much to asides or violence, even if mentioned as put to practice against those who deserve it. Don't pressure Glory to talk about her past when she gets uncomfortable speaking about it. As a victim of abuse, she will clam up. If she says she doesn't want to talk about it, recognize that it's her right to refuse to tell more. Glory will open up again after you perform every other run, following the last talk. Note that talking about her experiences seemed to help - she will reluctantly agree and tell you another chapter of her story.
 * After you progress far enough into her story (after she reveals the source of her chrome), she will ask you for help raiding the Feuerstelle and ask you to decide whether killing the leader or saving his victims is more important. This leads to her trust run.
 * After completing the run, Glory will receive a special upgrade, depending on how the run was resolved.

Mission-specific

 * During MKVI, she will examine the MKVI Cyberzombie and ask you to put it out of its misery, as within the body still exists a living being, tortured by the inhibitor chip. If asked, she will try and help the creature.

Tips

 * Glory is a competent support medic and will hold her own in combat, especially using her razor claws. When buffed by Dietrich and pumped with stims, she is an absolute monster - if she can close the distance fast enough.
 * She is a good choice to become the party's tank. If you choose Razor Specialist II, with 3 APs and assuming all 3 hits connect, she can decrease a target's armor by 6. Also, her claw attacks can force enemies out of their cover.
 * Should you feel like using the Vindicator Minigun in your party, Glory is the only NPC who can equip it. She'll need buffs to make it work well, but large targets like fire drakes and scorpions in the endgame can be shredded by her easily.

Character upgrades

 * The entire team levels up every two runs. The final level-up occurs after Beneath the Kreuzbasar.