No, I understand it entirely. The problem is twofold: if people die because we decided to keep our word for future gains or comfort or access to high society, it's a bad deal. You don't need some eastern philosophy for this, Jeremiah Bentham will tell you about it. Moreover, any deal that were made under duress is invalid: it is rule since Justinian's Digest, maybe earlier.
Secondly, if Molly allows to be exploited because of her connections without retribution, that means she will be exploited.
And I reiterate that your perception is heavily influenced by the Dresden Files that are constantly dealing with fairies and those who accepted their code of conduct.
And if people die in the future because we took, its a bad decision.
Im not advocating letting our friends die, but I am insisting we dont make promises we dont intend to keep.
There are always costs.
Deals under duress are entirely valid in this cosmology. If a half-Red kills a person under duress and drains their lifeblood, they will still change into a Red. If Ivy had given in under torture in Small Favor and accepted a Coin, it would still count. If Mortimer had faltered under torture and given Corpsetaker access to his head, it would still count.
When Dresden grabbed a Coin unintentionally, it still gave Lasciel access to his head even though he didnt mean to. He didnt need to make an informed decision about accessing Hellfire either.
Human laws do not determine how supernatural society works.
Thats not how it works.
This is a society of immortals and very long lived people. Retribution for offenses do not necessarily reckon with a human lifespan; nobody assumes that because you didnt strike a person with lightning immediately that you forgot.
Do recall that Arawn, Lydia's dad, has been ducking Mab for around a century. Accounts will STILL have to be settled.
The Fae are prominent because they are who Dresden primarily deals with in addition to being the superpowers of the setting, but they arent the only ones onscreen.We see Ebenezar with the Japanese kenku, and in the comics we see Asian entities like the naga and Arabian spirits like the qarin.We see Ancient Mai, the Chinese lady as the White Council's premiere diplomat, and Aleron LaFortier, a French dude as the advocate for African and other third world mages. Mouse is a Tibetan temple dog.
They all appear to operate on the same rules.
Isn't the whole deal of a naagloshi that it broke its oath?
Yes.
Native American shamans explicitly have power over them because they know the Old Ways, and the relevant banishments, which dont appear to be based on power levels.
"Hey," said a quiet voice. "Ugly."
I turned and stared across the small clearing at the same time the skinwalker did.
I don't know how Injun Joe managed to get through the ring of attackers and to the summit of the hill, but he had. He stood there in moccasins, jeans, and a buckskin shirt decorated with bone beads and bits of turquoise. His long silver hair hung in its customary braid, and the bone beads of his necklace gleamed pale in the night's gloom.
The naagloshii faced the medicine man without moving.
The hilltop was completely silent and still.
Then Listens-to-Wind smiled. He hunkered down and rubbed his hands in some mud and loose earth that lightly covered the rocky summit of the hill. He cupped his hands, raised them to just below his face, and inhaled through his nose, breathing in the scent of the earth. Then he rubbed his hands slowly together, the gesture somehow reminding me of a man preparing to undertake heavy routine labor.
He rose to his feet again, and said, calmly, "Mother says you have no place here."
The naagloshii bared its fangs. Its growl prowled around the hilltop like a beast unto itself.
Lightning flashed overhead with no accompanying rumble of thunder. It cast a harsh, eerily silent glare down on the skinwalker. Listens-to-Wind turned his face up to the skies and cocked his head slightly. "Father says you are ugly," he reported. He narrowed his eyes and straightened his shoulders, facing the naagloshii squarely as thunder rolled over the island, lending a monstrous growling undertone to the old man's voice. "I give you this chance. Leave. Now."
The skinwalker snarled. "Old spirit caller. The failed guardian of a dead people. I do not fear you."
"Maybe you should," Listens-to-Wind said. "The boy almost took you, and he doesn't even know the Diné, much less the Old Ways. Begone. Last chance."
The naagloshii let out a warbling growl as its body changed, thickening, growing physically thicker, more powerful-looking. "You are not a holy man. You do not follow the Blessing Way. You have no power over me."
"Don't plan to bind or banish you, old ghost," Injun Joe said. "Just gonna kick your ass up between your ears." He clenched his hands into fists and said, "Let's go."
I fully expect he's likely to be particularly vulnerable to Amoracchius.
Would love to see his face if he came face to blade with that particular surprise.
I would like to add something on the topic: isn't the whole schtick of Infernals about overthrowing the current world order?
Not in ExWoD; its about taking over a world of ruin at the end of the apocalypse.
ExWoD pg 31 said:
The Infernal Exalted are left with a soul ablaze with demonic power, but no explanation, no primer, no rundown of how things got to this point: no context for what they are.
But they do know where things are going.
Every Infernal has an instinctive understanding of the idea of the Wheel of Ages, and in quiet moments when she clears her thoughts, she can feel it turning toward its nadir. The Sixth Age looms, the heavens tremble, the earth quails, and soon God's throne will stand vacant, waiting for some great and terrible power to claim it.
The Yama Kings, rulers of the Thousand Hells, wheel, circle, scheme, betray, and jockey for advantage in the contest for rulership of the Age of Sorrow to come. Each dreams of the empty throne of Heaven, and wishes to ascend to become Demon Emperor. The Infernals, too, sense that this is their ultimate destiny: to rise up above a world of ruin, wearing a crown of hellish splendors. Perhaps this suits their thwarted ambitions, or perhaps an Infernal believes that by guiding the course of Armageddon she can spare the world the worst of its potential horrors. Regardless, each feels the future rushing toward them like a great dark beast, and knows that they must ride it or perish.
We'd rather it didnt get that far.
