The point of the first quote is that BS doesn't take payment in experience, as DP confirmed in a later post. She can't be paying him with Harry, because he gets that by default.
She brought him something to satisfy his physical tribute demands, and implied they were from the council.
Could be apprentices or something for all we know.
Possible, but unlikely. IMO.
I read that more as her offering those, and being rejected out of hand.
I suspect if she hadnt been who she was, offering something like that would have gotten the speaker killed.
What? He's specifically telling Harry messengers not all created equal or identical, and semi divine doesn't mean they're exactly what he expects them to be.
It also says nothing about what the Holy People actually were/are.
You are misunderstanding me.
When Bob talks about pagan gods and pantheons, he's generally quite good at being specific. Supernatural society seems to have a good idea of who's who. And gods were supposed to have been active in human society until fairly recently by immortal standards, while the Holy People are supposed to have left in pre-history.
I am saying that whatever the Holy People are is in this cosmology? I dont think Butcher portrays them as a pagan pantheon.
And given as naagloshii walk around with intellectus, which is a trick no god Im aware of in the series has, let alone their minions, we're unlikely to be looking at something from a pagan pantheon.
I don't like revealing our divinatory abilities, but as long as we stab it in the back the moment our friends are free and kill it, it should be ok. If anyone has any other ideas, I am willing to listen. Maybe ask what it actually wants out of life? Other than petty sadism against mortals.
I dont see a reason to reveal even that.
We captured one of his people spying on us on Halloween. Thats in and of itself enough hard evidence to have followed up on him and his identity.
No freebies for kidnappers.
I'm sorry, but you are failing reading comprehension pretty terribly here. It's Harry who brings up angels here, as an analogy, because he's primarily christian culturally, so he wouldn't use valkyries or some other manner of divine servitors from other religions. Bob then responds with "Or like those guys on bikes in New York, maybe?" and says that "not all messengers are created equal", which to me reads like he agrees that naagloshii are like angels, in that they are divine messengers, but they are not equal to angels in any way, with a comparison to bikers in New York being just as valid.
Nowhere does it say that naagloshii are affiliated with or are angels. Or that Holy People are angels. In fact, Holy People aren't discussed at all in this text.
I didnt say naagloshii were Christian angels, or that whoever they were serving were the classic JudaeoChristian angels.
Just that they werent serving a pagan pantheon.
At least, Butcher didnt write them that way.
Its not like the Old Testament doesnt have multiple instances of angels allegedly walking the Earth in human form.
With and without sanction.
Also, we've seen the part-human kid of a naagloshii.
He was...formidable. Jump in the face of a Coin-wielding Bigfoot barehanded kind of formidable.
I don't believe that's the case. The White Council knows what happens when a wizard is captured and turned by the Red Court, which means it's happened before.
Im sure its happened to wizards and sorcerers before, especially given the Red Court domination of Latin America.
At least some of the Red Court sorcerers we see in Changes have to have had pre-existing skills before being vamped, after all.
That doesnt mean it has happened to a
White Council wizard before, which was my argument.
There's a fair number of magic users who never get strong or skilled enough to make the White Council; in Chicago alone, we saw around half a dozen of them in McAnally's during Dead Beat.
And the White King had three witches around in his employ during Blood Rites.
Much likelier victims of Red Court predation, than a White Council wizard.
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Plus, note that Rampire reproduction requires the cooperation of the target.
They can turn a magic-user into a half-Red, but the magic user still has to take the last step to become a Red by draining someone else of their blood to become a full Red.
Its not exactly a slam dunk for turning a magic user, and if the magic user is strong enough to use a death curse, everyone involved in trying to coerce the victim can go up in a metaphorical or possibly literal fireball as the wizard goes From Hells Heart I Stab At Thee. Which is a fairly effective deterrent against attempts at forced conversions.
