- Location
- Argentina
I've been having job interviews. FINALLY. Okay, only two, but that's SOMETHING
A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
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- Tags
- a song of ice and fire a sword without a hilt d&d 3.5 dungeons & dragons 100% high octane dragon fuel ave corvidae battle action dragon diplomacy best sister bureaucromancy delicious soul-stuff dragon dreams come true dragon ta'veren greatest uncle hubris is a coward's word in defiance of gods and men mammon's folly mutually assured mage's disjunction qm murderhobo top tier coatl
I've been having job interviews. FINALLY. Okay, only two, but that's SOMETHING
- Location
- Philippines
Been busy with new job responsibilities and the freaking dry season. So hot, you can barely move, let alone sleep when I'm suppose to during the day. Not much contention on the votes as well.
Still waiting for the tree of dawn age, and the vote scramble over it.
Still waiting for the tree of dawn age, and the vote scramble over it.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Good luck, dude!
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
Rooting for Team Inquisition, because even if Varys is our Familiar, she has been hobbling her true potential throughout multiple brackets.
It's a major boost to their reputation as an institution and will make people react to their presence as we were hoping for. Respect and fear.
If our troubleshooters are obstructed based on a perception of them just being boring officials who you can hem and haw at, they aren't very good troubleshooters.
If, when they appear, people actively clear away all obstacles in their path so that they leave as soon as possible, that is an ideal state of affairs.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Realistically, it will come down to Amrelath or Team Red, but I would prefer Team Varys to win.
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
The issue with women being more powerful at the moment have less to do with them leading harsher lives, and more to do surviving said harsher lives and trauma.
If a raider comes and raid your village, if you're a woman you're likely to be raped and possibly taken captive, if you're a man you just die. While the former is certainly an horrific fate, its basically catnip for the Dragon King who will probably swoop in, save the day, heal the women and bring them back to magical Sorcerer Deep where she will get the opportunity to join the scholarum and cash in all those roleplay XP and trade her commoner HD for something more useful like Wizard, Archivist, Sorcerer or Mystic, while the Dragon King will certainly feel indignant over all the senseless loss of life from the raid but also won't fork all those ressurrection grade gems unless said woman ask for him to bring back one or two, and she need to ask really well.
There's also the fact that if said man manages to survive a Guts grade trauma line he's mostly going to pick up a sharp stick and try to get better at it, except differently from the actual Guts he will fall to irrelevancy the higher he climbs and the stronger he becomes.
That rescued dansel when she reaches level 8 will be able twist reality like a pretzel, rocking feats like Empower Metamagic and Arcane Thesis, while said eight level man will likely be a straight fighter 8 and rock such wonders like weapon focus, weapon specialization and the apex of good feats, 3.5 Toughness because his class features are literally Feats.
So yeah, if we want to see more powerful men that are actually relevant we need to look for more Eragons, Maelor or even Theon because they managed to survive the horrific trauma they got (though I still think Theon should have been much higher level considering all the shit he had to go through once we send him with Moonsong). Hell, even Jon Snow have something better than Darkstar, the guy's supposed to be an elite and yet he will crumble like a house of cards by someone lower level than him if they hit his will save.
That, and DP prefers to throw magically powerful women at Viserys he's willing to get more often than the reverse. For every Malarys we get there's a ton of Lyas, Tyenes and what have you that he likes to introduce.
If a raider comes and raid your village, if you're a woman you're likely to be raped and possibly taken captive, if you're a man you just die. While the former is certainly an horrific fate, its basically catnip for the Dragon King who will probably swoop in, save the day, heal the women and bring them back to magical Sorcerer Deep where she will get the opportunity to join the scholarum and cash in all those roleplay XP and trade her commoner HD for something more useful like Wizard, Archivist, Sorcerer or Mystic, while the Dragon King will certainly feel indignant over all the senseless loss of life from the raid but also won't fork all those ressurrection grade gems unless said woman ask for him to bring back one or two, and she need to ask really well.
There's also the fact that if said man manages to survive a Guts grade trauma line he's mostly going to pick up a sharp stick and try to get better at it, except differently from the actual Guts he will fall to irrelevancy the higher he climbs and the stronger he becomes.
That rescued dansel when she reaches level 8 will be able twist reality like a pretzel, rocking feats like Empower Metamagic and Arcane Thesis, while said eight level man will likely be a straight fighter 8 and rock such wonders like weapon focus, weapon specialization and the apex of good feats, 3.5 Toughness because his class features are literally Feats.
So yeah, if we want to see more powerful men that are actually relevant we need to look for more Eragons, Maelor or even Theon because they managed to survive the horrific trauma they got (though I still think Theon should have been much higher level considering all the shit he had to go through once we send him with Moonsong). Hell, even Jon Snow have something better than Darkstar, the guy's supposed to be an elite and yet he will crumble like a house of cards by someone lower level than him if they hit his will save.
That, and DP prefers to throw magically powerful women at Viserys he's willing to get more often than the reverse. For every Malarys we get there's a ton of Lyas, Tyenes and what have you that he likes to introduce.
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
Men introduced are actually in equal proportion to the women.
It's just that the men are actually Zherys, actually Original!Tor, actually... etc.
The men who are powerful magically like Malarys, without having a YA novel backstory, just tend to be antagonistic because their ambition and position makes it easier to assert their will across their small-minded fellows who take issue with, of all things, women holding power over them.
Even our Myrish Archon is sharing her power ostensibly, or at least allowing others to save face by being able to say she rules at their leisure.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Magic is a great equalizer, in so much as a rare ability to kick reality in the nuts can ever be considered equalizing when muggles have to do without, but Planetos has a ton of cultural baggage and inertia to overcome. For now, and for some time to come, the power dynamic is going to be predominantly skewed in favor of men, with only the rare female outliers to prove otherwise.
We are doing much to foster such a cultural paradigm shift, though SD is a very small piece of a very large political and social landscape. As women in positions of power become more common, especially without them needing to first be born to very influential families, the shift should pick up pace.
We are doing much to foster such a cultural paradigm shift, though SD is a very small piece of a very large political and social landscape. As women in positions of power become more common, especially without them needing to first be born to very influential families, the shift should pick up pace.
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
This shift will be fast and very sudden, since we have made no secret nor will we hold back from assigning positions of authority to the one best suited to holding it, which often turns out to be women since, again, women are taking advantage of the reawakening of magic. And a variety of social and environmental factors has led to a slightly higher trend of magically powerful women (and to a lesser extent magically awakened women, though much lesser, it's near equal there).
To be fair to that though, this is much less of an issue in Essos, and in Westeros, with us being top dog, people are often grudgingly left with the choice between accepting a woman in a position of power or picking a fight with a Dragon.
An unenviable position for your potential straw-chauvinist.
- Location
- United States
Please don't waste the sacrifices.
- Location
- France
Our Imperium is basically ruled by women, too. Who are the men in positions of obvious power in our court? Viserys (not always around), Malarys (stays in his lane) and Gerold (who handles the Legion). Yeah, that's it. Garin obviously isn't obvious to the public 
Meanwhile the women in positions of power and influence in our court include Lya, Daenerys, Rhaella, Teana, and especially Alinor. Then of course in the cities we rule things are more complicated and less clear-cut (despite the existence of a few powerful women, they don't seem to challenge the patriarchal and aristocratic societies from which they sprung - they fit into the mold as noble outliers who rose through power through a "woman's arts" and stay in their lane in the public eye). I'm not saying that equality will happen soon, but I am saying that our code of laws is definitely a huge step forwards and our upper-level administration sends a clear message that should influence culture and lower-level government institutions.
I'm not expecting institutional sexism to be a huge thing in our Imperium. Hopefully our education system does a decent job of stamping it out in society. What's the point of state propaganda if it can't do some good?
Oh, and thanks to our incredible centralization of power and weakening of traditional actors then the usual quiet sabotage of women in positions of power and resented by their underlings will not be a problem. You're dragging your feet and disrespecting the new boss? Hell, you're outright disobeying/sabotaging her? Well she's part of an institutional machine that can wield almost all aspects of society as hammers to make you feel the pain, and if she got the job then she certainly has the brains and the guts to use them as needed.
This is important too, especially in the short-term and medium-term.
Meanwhile the women in positions of power and influence in our court include Lya, Daenerys, Rhaella, Teana, and especially Alinor. Then of course in the cities we rule things are more complicated and less clear-cut (despite the existence of a few powerful women, they don't seem to challenge the patriarchal and aristocratic societies from which they sprung - they fit into the mold as noble outliers who rose through power through a "woman's arts" and stay in their lane in the public eye). I'm not saying that equality will happen soon, but I am saying that our code of laws is definitely a huge step forwards and our upper-level administration sends a clear message that should influence culture and lower-level government institutions.
I'm not expecting institutional sexism to be a huge thing in our Imperium. Hopefully our education system does a decent job of stamping it out in society. What's the point of state propaganda if it can't do some good?
Oh, and thanks to our incredible centralization of power and weakening of traditional actors then the usual quiet sabotage of women in positions of power and resented by their underlings will not be a problem. You're dragging your feet and disrespecting the new boss? Hell, you're outright disobeying/sabotaging her? Well she's part of an institutional machine that can wield almost all aspects of society as hammers to make you feel the pain, and if she got the job then she certainly has the brains and the guts to use them as needed.
This is important too, especially in the short-term and medium-term.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
It doesn't hurt that we have begun introducing cheap, easily accessed and reliable, not to mention safe, contraceptives. Giving women a good method to control their own reproductive system is a big step toward making it possible for them to take a place right alongside their male counterparts in the workforce. That comes with all sorts of positive effects.
Public education for children is another significant aid in that regard. We need to introduce low cost infant care as well, when time and resources permit.
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- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
I thought a part of it was that men are typically already in positions of power in Westeros and Essos and women aren't, so...
Basically, clever minds in female bodies are more readily available for us to hire/offer vassalage than clever minds in male bodies, and over time, the probabilities have played out.
And undoubtedly other factors, but that what I read as the main cause.
During the dance in Volantis, when we first visited, I vaguely recall this topic being discussed/ruminated upon. *Tries to remember a good search term*
Viserys was giving magic tips to various dance partners I think
Basically, clever minds in female bodies are more readily available for us to hire/offer vassalage than clever minds in male bodies, and over time, the probabilities have played out.
And undoubtedly other factors, but that what I read as the main cause.
During the dance in Volantis, when we first visited, I vaguely recall this topic being discussed/ruminated upon. *Tries to remember a good search term*
Viserys was giving magic tips to various dance partners I think
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Horde Thief Interlude V - Great Stakes
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
<< Previous
After years spent out of touch with the Council, it had been strange to discover that they'd constructed a minor fortress in the middle of my city…and yet done nothing more than that. The place lacked a threshold, but given how it had been constructed, it didn't appear to need one. The wards built into its new were probably the type to lay dormant until energy was supplied, like had been done today. That wasn't normal work, and I had to wonder why it had been put in, even though I didn't like any of the available answers. Mostly due to how I was a core point of all of them. There was a difference between observation and threat neutralisation, of course, but I didn't know which the place had been built for. Given how Viserys' conversation with the Merlin, Cristos and my old mentor had gone, I had to wonder if staying there was wise. I'd submitted all the required reports, of course, but sticking around to be quizzed on them wasn't my idea of a relaxing afternoon.
Yet that went both ways. If I left, any chance of discovering why the place had been built would almost certainly vanish, and there was more than that, too. No contact with the Council across almost the last three years, barring that singular interaction with Rashid at the Outer Gates, meant that I'd not talked to Ebenezar, my mentor and…more than that, in all that time. He'd come through for me at Chichen Itza, bringing the Grey Council with him into a battle whose climax had laid an empire of blood to ruin. And then I'd died. Well, mostly, at least. There'd never been a chance to thank him beyond the few words expressed as the sunrise illuminated the death of the Red Court.
Years ago, those thoughts would have been enough to distract me from the quiet, approaching footsteps coming from where the meeting of a few minutes past had taken place. Several years as the Winter Knight and most of a war had cured me quite soundly of that flaw, which was good. The last few years had also resulted in a reaction to surprise that was on the near side of lethal. So I was not surprised when a grey-cloaked figure entered my peripheral vision and spoke.
"Warden Dresden?" I looked up, and almost did a doubletake. The Warden in front of me was almost painfully young, and when had I become the person to notice that? Seeing others as adolescents in the world I'd known for the majority of my life. Hell's bells, this must be what getting old felt like, and it was utterly uncanny. The younger Warden didn't notice. "Senior Council Member McCoy would like a word, if you have the time."
Leave it to Ebenezar to anticipate me. Or maybe it wasn't that simple. Over two years of silence, closing on three, and though his letter had been short it had been heartfelt. He cared, he wanted to see me again, to talk. And yet he was asking, giving me a way out if I wanted one. I felt a sudden surge of affection for the old man at that.
"I think I can spare a few moments," I drawled, then came up short as the Warden rocked a moment in place. Stars and stones, it wasn't possible that I'd ever been that young. Was it? No matter. I cleared my throat, getting the dark-haired man's attention. "Yes," I clarified firmly," I have the time. If you would take me to him? I've never been here before." I added a rueful smile to the words…and almost felt bad a moment later as Warden Fulford launched into an explanation about the Council's semi-permanent secure location in my city. It wasn't a full explanation, he was too young to his cloak to have that, but I could draw my own conclusions.
I made occasional noises of agreement or encouragement on demand, and by the time we reached our destination, I was pretty sure I had the basics figured out. Though my guide didn't know, I was almost certain that my grandfather's faction of the Senior Council had been responsible for this, putting in place a base for the Council in the event of happenings in the city. Thankfully, it had been founded after the attack on Demonreach two and a half years ago. If the White Council had had a presence in the city during that, I wasn't sure I'd have been able to keep a level head.
That said, it had had considerable work put into it, and functioned as a launch point for the few remaining Wardens still active in the Midwest. I was relatively certain it had been founded for more than just that, but I kept those thoughts to myself. I was quite impressed with my guide, actually. A few lessons in discretion might be wise, certainly, but otherwise he was very sharp, with what seemed to be a natural gift for wards given his understanding of those set into the building around us.
He left me at the door with a courteous farewell, and a bob of his dark-haired head. I watched him go, wondering exactly how I was going to phrase my report on him to Luccio, then shook my head and knocked once on the door before opening it. The room beyond wasn't a match for the expansive opulence of the Senior Council quarters in Edinburgh, but it was spacious and far more comfortable than I'd expected it to be. Maybe they'd pulled out the stops for a visit from members of the Senior Council. Ebenezar stood beside a desk to the side of the room, leaning over a thin, leather bound book that I recognised as a match to the diary I'd read a little of in his Edinburgh quarters years ago. Maybe it was even the same one, but I doubted it.
Ebenezr McCoy was a short, stocky man, the product of a much older world. He wore the formal black robes of a Council meeting, with the associated purple stole, but the hood was tossed back to reveal his mostly bald head and a face marked heavily with the lines of a life well-lived. Some of them creased as he looked up to see me, a small smile tugging on his mouth. We met at the centre of the room, and there was silence for a moment as he looked me up and down, eyes narrowing a touch as he saw the new scars.
"It's good to see you, hoss," he said at last, the words gruff to hide the rough emotion. I'd always known he'd cared, but it was rare that he showed it. That had never been his way, but there was more to it than just that. In the world of the supernatural, family bonds have power far beyond what was usually given them. The ritual I'd used to destroy the Red Court had been set up to kill my remaining family just as much as myself. Possibly more so.
"It's good to see you too, sir," I said in return, my own emotion no less present in the words, and our hands met in a steady clasp not a moment later. We held that for a moment, the simple contact a tangible comfort, to know there was another out there who cared about me, then drew back. "It's been too long."
"That it has," Ebenezar said into the breath of silence between my last word and what I'd planned to be more. That wasn't like him. "But I always find myself needing something to eat after meetings like that." I got the subtext almost immediately, but it was more than simply unsettling. The idea that we might not be able to trust the apparent privacy granted at the heart of a White Council stronghold was, well. I'd never really trusted the Council, but this was different.
I could recognise the suggestion, though, and I realised to my surprise that it would probably do me some good. "I know a place," I said with a smile. "Some of the best steak in the city, and good beer, too."
"If you're trying to drag me to that tavern of yours," Ebenezar growled, but it was a thing more of noise than feeling.
"Actually," I replied, my smile widening, "no. A grill on the waterfront, comes highly recommended. Sound good?"
"Now you're speaking my language," my former mentor barked a laugh, and nodded firmly. "Lead on."
We got there just as the lunch rush started to clear and were able to snag a seat near the water, which suited us both fine. Even with the windows and heating, the presence of water nearby would act as a natural screen against certain forms of magic, particularly the delicate types, making it harder for anyone to spy on us. The prices on the menus, as befitted our location, would have made me wince a year ago, but my backpay from the Wardens, combined with the windfall from Hades', made it far more reasonable.
"Smells good," Ebenezar nodded, looking down at his own stylised folder, with the name of the restaurant pressed onto the front. "And it's still got enough people to be noisy, so we can talk." There was something in the last word that made me swallow, very slowly. It wasn't that I was scared of my grandfather, not really, but he'd been my teacher and mentor in my head for far longer than that. And there was still an element of childish apprehension when he said those words.
We ordered, clinked our drinks together once they arrived, and then Ebenezar placed his bottle down on the table and faced me squarely, his eyes very sharp. "I'm not going to ask why you did it, Hoss, I think I know. But damn it all, don't scare us all like that again."
There wasn't much I could say to that, the statements clearly referencing my decision to arrange my own assassination in an attempt to escape from the possibility of being turned into Mab's monster, a fate I still feared. I'd failed, but not for any lack of trying, and I wasn't sure that it would be wise to say how close I'd come. Spending several days as a ghost had been an interesting experience, but not one I suspected Ebenezar would be enthralled by…except to make me question why I'd done it.
"I've been informed since that I wasn't the only one involved in the decision," I said carefully, after a moment. That was as close as I was willing to get to what Uriel had told me, the real reason I'd been sent back. "But I found my way back, in the end. And don't worry, sir," I added quickly, "I have no intention of doing it again." Ebenezar fixed me with the same look he'd used when checking my work as an apprentice, then nodded once.
"Alright," he said, and took another swallow of beer. It wasn't Mac's microbrewed ambrosia, but it wasn't bad, either.
"Honestly, I'm more surprised that my reinstatement went as far as it did," I tugged in the air at where a cloak might have hung around my shoulders, and Ebenezar surprised me with a growling chuckle.
"You aren't the only one," he told me, setting down the bottle again. "Even with Rashid speaking on your behalf, and that caused quite the stir, let me tell you, the most I'd expected was your return to membership in good standing."
"How'd it happen, then?" I asked, setting down my own bottle to lean forward slightly. I'd been certain that the Senior Council had been involved somehow, but if they'd not started the process… I completed the thought a moment after the question. "Captain Luccio."
Ebenezar nodded, his face splitting in a cheerful smile. "When the Merlin found out about it, he dragged her up in front of the Senior Council demanding your position be revoked. Anastasia just asked him if she was still Captain of the Wardens." If I'd been drinking, I'd have been reduced to a spluttering mess. As it was, I simply felt like I'd been. "Thought he was gonna choke," my former mentor went on. "But he should've known better. He tried this the first time, after all. Even so," he shrugged.
"I'm under surveillance." I finished, to an approving nod. "Fulford didn't know much, but I can draw my own conclusions. Place like that wasn't built just for today."
"Not just for that," Ebenezar pointed out, but he didn't deny my own statement. "It was hard to miss the lightshow on the lake two Halloweens back. Seemed wise to have something in place in the event of another one."
It would have helped if it had been there beforehand, but I wasn't in much of a position to go throwing stones like that. As things had been that day, I probably wouldn't have reached out even if it had been there, and I'd known about it.
"Preparation is important," I said, carefully noncommittal. I still didn't know exactly how much even the Senior Council knew about Demonreach, and I thought it better not to spill those secrets, especially in public. Ebenezar looked just looked at me, then sighed.
"Can't say I blame you, keeping things close." He said, though there was a touch of something unusual below the words; pain. "But if you need to let a load off," Ebenezar trailed off, and I nodded, truly thankful. That meant a great deal. "And if you're ever unloaded," he added, his voice growing hard, "let's just say that it won't happen without complications."
And that, if it meant what I thought it did, meant a great deal more. "Thank you." I said, with a force all out proportion to my volume. I knew that even the entire White Council probably couldn't kill Mab, but Ebenezar was still a member of the Senior Council…and the Blackstaff. He would be watching, and if the Queen of Air and Darkness decided to throw me away like so many of those who'd held my position before, then my grandfather would ensure that there'd be a reckoning for it.
"Well, if you really want to thank me," Ebenezar smiled faintly as a waitress brought our food over, sliding the plates onto the table with a luminescent smile. "Then maybe you can arrange for an old man to meet his great-granddaughter?"
I looked down at the plate, and resolved to come here more often when I could. My former mentor was already gathering up his cutlery to tuck in. "Of course." I said simply.
Horde Thief
Interlude 5 - Great Stakes
Interlude 5 - Great Stakes
After years spent out of touch with the Council, it had been strange to discover that they'd constructed a minor fortress in the middle of my city…and yet done nothing more than that. The place lacked a threshold, but given how it had been constructed, it didn't appear to need one. The wards built into its new were probably the type to lay dormant until energy was supplied, like had been done today. That wasn't normal work, and I had to wonder why it had been put in, even though I didn't like any of the available answers. Mostly due to how I was a core point of all of them. There was a difference between observation and threat neutralisation, of course, but I didn't know which the place had been built for. Given how Viserys' conversation with the Merlin, Cristos and my old mentor had gone, I had to wonder if staying there was wise. I'd submitted all the required reports, of course, but sticking around to be quizzed on them wasn't my idea of a relaxing afternoon.
Yet that went both ways. If I left, any chance of discovering why the place had been built would almost certainly vanish, and there was more than that, too. No contact with the Council across almost the last three years, barring that singular interaction with Rashid at the Outer Gates, meant that I'd not talked to Ebenezar, my mentor and…more than that, in all that time. He'd come through for me at Chichen Itza, bringing the Grey Council with him into a battle whose climax had laid an empire of blood to ruin. And then I'd died. Well, mostly, at least. There'd never been a chance to thank him beyond the few words expressed as the sunrise illuminated the death of the Red Court.
Years ago, those thoughts would have been enough to distract me from the quiet, approaching footsteps coming from where the meeting of a few minutes past had taken place. Several years as the Winter Knight and most of a war had cured me quite soundly of that flaw, which was good. The last few years had also resulted in a reaction to surprise that was on the near side of lethal. So I was not surprised when a grey-cloaked figure entered my peripheral vision and spoke.
"Warden Dresden?" I looked up, and almost did a doubletake. The Warden in front of me was almost painfully young, and when had I become the person to notice that? Seeing others as adolescents in the world I'd known for the majority of my life. Hell's bells, this must be what getting old felt like, and it was utterly uncanny. The younger Warden didn't notice. "Senior Council Member McCoy would like a word, if you have the time."
Leave it to Ebenezar to anticipate me. Or maybe it wasn't that simple. Over two years of silence, closing on three, and though his letter had been short it had been heartfelt. He cared, he wanted to see me again, to talk. And yet he was asking, giving me a way out if I wanted one. I felt a sudden surge of affection for the old man at that.
"I think I can spare a few moments," I drawled, then came up short as the Warden rocked a moment in place. Stars and stones, it wasn't possible that I'd ever been that young. Was it? No matter. I cleared my throat, getting the dark-haired man's attention. "Yes," I clarified firmly," I have the time. If you would take me to him? I've never been here before." I added a rueful smile to the words…and almost felt bad a moment later as Warden Fulford launched into an explanation about the Council's semi-permanent secure location in my city. It wasn't a full explanation, he was too young to his cloak to have that, but I could draw my own conclusions.
I made occasional noises of agreement or encouragement on demand, and by the time we reached our destination, I was pretty sure I had the basics figured out. Though my guide didn't know, I was almost certain that my grandfather's faction of the Senior Council had been responsible for this, putting in place a base for the Council in the event of happenings in the city. Thankfully, it had been founded after the attack on Demonreach two and a half years ago. If the White Council had had a presence in the city during that, I wasn't sure I'd have been able to keep a level head.
That said, it had had considerable work put into it, and functioned as a launch point for the few remaining Wardens still active in the Midwest. I was relatively certain it had been founded for more than just that, but I kept those thoughts to myself. I was quite impressed with my guide, actually. A few lessons in discretion might be wise, certainly, but otherwise he was very sharp, with what seemed to be a natural gift for wards given his understanding of those set into the building around us.
He left me at the door with a courteous farewell, and a bob of his dark-haired head. I watched him go, wondering exactly how I was going to phrase my report on him to Luccio, then shook my head and knocked once on the door before opening it. The room beyond wasn't a match for the expansive opulence of the Senior Council quarters in Edinburgh, but it was spacious and far more comfortable than I'd expected it to be. Maybe they'd pulled out the stops for a visit from members of the Senior Council. Ebenezar stood beside a desk to the side of the room, leaning over a thin, leather bound book that I recognised as a match to the diary I'd read a little of in his Edinburgh quarters years ago. Maybe it was even the same one, but I doubted it.
Ebenezr McCoy was a short, stocky man, the product of a much older world. He wore the formal black robes of a Council meeting, with the associated purple stole, but the hood was tossed back to reveal his mostly bald head and a face marked heavily with the lines of a life well-lived. Some of them creased as he looked up to see me, a small smile tugging on his mouth. We met at the centre of the room, and there was silence for a moment as he looked me up and down, eyes narrowing a touch as he saw the new scars.
"It's good to see you, hoss," he said at last, the words gruff to hide the rough emotion. I'd always known he'd cared, but it was rare that he showed it. That had never been his way, but there was more to it than just that. In the world of the supernatural, family bonds have power far beyond what was usually given them. The ritual I'd used to destroy the Red Court had been set up to kill my remaining family just as much as myself. Possibly more so.
"It's good to see you too, sir," I said in return, my own emotion no less present in the words, and our hands met in a steady clasp not a moment later. We held that for a moment, the simple contact a tangible comfort, to know there was another out there who cared about me, then drew back. "It's been too long."
"That it has," Ebenezar said into the breath of silence between my last word and what I'd planned to be more. That wasn't like him. "But I always find myself needing something to eat after meetings like that." I got the subtext almost immediately, but it was more than simply unsettling. The idea that we might not be able to trust the apparent privacy granted at the heart of a White Council stronghold was, well. I'd never really trusted the Council, but this was different.
I could recognise the suggestion, though, and I realised to my surprise that it would probably do me some good. "I know a place," I said with a smile. "Some of the best steak in the city, and good beer, too."
"If you're trying to drag me to that tavern of yours," Ebenezar growled, but it was a thing more of noise than feeling.
"Actually," I replied, my smile widening, "no. A grill on the waterfront, comes highly recommended. Sound good?"
"Now you're speaking my language," my former mentor barked a laugh, and nodded firmly. "Lead on."
We got there just as the lunch rush started to clear and were able to snag a seat near the water, which suited us both fine. Even with the windows and heating, the presence of water nearby would act as a natural screen against certain forms of magic, particularly the delicate types, making it harder for anyone to spy on us. The prices on the menus, as befitted our location, would have made me wince a year ago, but my backpay from the Wardens, combined with the windfall from Hades', made it far more reasonable.
"Smells good," Ebenezar nodded, looking down at his own stylised folder, with the name of the restaurant pressed onto the front. "And it's still got enough people to be noisy, so we can talk." There was something in the last word that made me swallow, very slowly. It wasn't that I was scared of my grandfather, not really, but he'd been my teacher and mentor in my head for far longer than that. And there was still an element of childish apprehension when he said those words.
We ordered, clinked our drinks together once they arrived, and then Ebenezar placed his bottle down on the table and faced me squarely, his eyes very sharp. "I'm not going to ask why you did it, Hoss, I think I know. But damn it all, don't scare us all like that again."
There wasn't much I could say to that, the statements clearly referencing my decision to arrange my own assassination in an attempt to escape from the possibility of being turned into Mab's monster, a fate I still feared. I'd failed, but not for any lack of trying, and I wasn't sure that it would be wise to say how close I'd come. Spending several days as a ghost had been an interesting experience, but not one I suspected Ebenezar would be enthralled by…except to make me question why I'd done it.
"I've been informed since that I wasn't the only one involved in the decision," I said carefully, after a moment. That was as close as I was willing to get to what Uriel had told me, the real reason I'd been sent back. "But I found my way back, in the end. And don't worry, sir," I added quickly, "I have no intention of doing it again." Ebenezar fixed me with the same look he'd used when checking my work as an apprentice, then nodded once.
"Alright," he said, and took another swallow of beer. It wasn't Mac's microbrewed ambrosia, but it wasn't bad, either.
"Honestly, I'm more surprised that my reinstatement went as far as it did," I tugged in the air at where a cloak might have hung around my shoulders, and Ebenezar surprised me with a growling chuckle.
"You aren't the only one," he told me, setting down the bottle again. "Even with Rashid speaking on your behalf, and that caused quite the stir, let me tell you, the most I'd expected was your return to membership in good standing."
"How'd it happen, then?" I asked, setting down my own bottle to lean forward slightly. I'd been certain that the Senior Council had been involved somehow, but if they'd not started the process… I completed the thought a moment after the question. "Captain Luccio."
Ebenezar nodded, his face splitting in a cheerful smile. "When the Merlin found out about it, he dragged her up in front of the Senior Council demanding your position be revoked. Anastasia just asked him if she was still Captain of the Wardens." If I'd been drinking, I'd have been reduced to a spluttering mess. As it was, I simply felt like I'd been. "Thought he was gonna choke," my former mentor went on. "But he should've known better. He tried this the first time, after all. Even so," he shrugged.
"I'm under surveillance." I finished, to an approving nod. "Fulford didn't know much, but I can draw my own conclusions. Place like that wasn't built just for today."
"Not just for that," Ebenezar pointed out, but he didn't deny my own statement. "It was hard to miss the lightshow on the lake two Halloweens back. Seemed wise to have something in place in the event of another one."
It would have helped if it had been there beforehand, but I wasn't in much of a position to go throwing stones like that. As things had been that day, I probably wouldn't have reached out even if it had been there, and I'd known about it.
"Preparation is important," I said, carefully noncommittal. I still didn't know exactly how much even the Senior Council knew about Demonreach, and I thought it better not to spill those secrets, especially in public. Ebenezar looked just looked at me, then sighed.
"Can't say I blame you, keeping things close." He said, though there was a touch of something unusual below the words; pain. "But if you need to let a load off," Ebenezar trailed off, and I nodded, truly thankful. That meant a great deal. "And if you're ever unloaded," he added, his voice growing hard, "let's just say that it won't happen without complications."
And that, if it meant what I thought it did, meant a great deal more. "Thank you." I said, with a force all out proportion to my volume. I knew that even the entire White Council probably couldn't kill Mab, but Ebenezar was still a member of the Senior Council…and the Blackstaff. He would be watching, and if the Queen of Air and Darkness decided to throw me away like so many of those who'd held my position before, then my grandfather would ensure that there'd be a reckoning for it.
"Well, if you really want to thank me," Ebenezar smiled faintly as a waitress brought our food over, sliding the plates onto the table with a luminescent smile. "Then maybe you can arrange for an old man to meet his great-granddaughter?"
I looked down at the plate, and resolved to come here more often when I could. My former mentor was already gathering up his cutlery to tuck in. "Of course." I said simply.
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Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
Sorry for this taking so long. I had to work pretty hard to get a voice for Ebenezar, and I'm still not sure I did him justice. Hopefully though, this is fulfilment enough for the time spent working on it. I have a PW post to do, but I'll be hoping to get back to the second inter-arc Interlude within the week. It's going to be…fun 
@Sqweaktoy restrain yourself damnit!
@Sqweaktoy restrain yourself damnit!
- Location
- The internet
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
For years now, I've had a mental image of Ebenezar being a much older Wizard version of Gibbs from the NCIS TV show. Just seems to fit well in my head.Sorry for this taking so long. I had to work pretty hard to get a voice for Ebenezar, and I'm still not sure I did him justice. Hopefully though, this is fulfilment enough for the time spent working on it. I have a PW post to do, but I'll be hoping to get back to the second inter-arc Interlude within the week. It's going to be…fun
@Sqweaktoy restrain yourself damnit!
Anyway, very nice chapter. I guess it's too much to hope that the Chicago Wizard fortress could just be turned over to Harry for his own use, and that of the local Paranet?
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
We should soon, yes. It would be best if we talked with her, and through her gained an introduction to her brother Baelor, before the upcoming conference in Old Town.
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
...fine.
But I reserve the right of cackling behind my screen.
Arguing against your right to do that would mean I wouldn't be allowed to do it. I'm crazy, not insane
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
The local Paranet will be getting a section of it repurposed for use. Harry...will have access, but it's not going to be his. He's not a Regional Commander, and he can't really be made one given his current position in Winter. Luccio was going out on a limb to make him a liaison, and that only worked because it was entirely her purview to do so. Trying to give him command of other Wardens would never fly, and she knows that.
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
Viserys could just make him a castle. He's famous for giving those away on a whim. Look at this Festival!