Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
Yzarc
The Spark of Madness
Who was this again?
Just a theoretical future employer, talking about your skills, it is carrier day stuff.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
[X] Goofy: Hello, I am Molly Carpenter, cook-mechanic extraordinaire
Don't know why this is considered goofy. We have serious skill and could likely impress in a interview just by quickly crafting a super fancy paper airplane.
Don't know why this is considered goofy. We have serious skill and could likely impress in a interview just by quickly crafting a super fancy paper airplane.
You can if you want, but Olivia isn't any more powerful than she was yesterday, this is just an insight into what happens when scions have scions and where some of the inclinations of talents minor and major come from.
…I am now actually even more sure that shattering the veil is something we should do.
This said:
[x] Absolute Dead serious: Hello, I am your potential CEO, what can you offer me if I employ you?
-[X] Etiquette (or Leadership or Empathy, whichever is appropriate) excellency
This should be a joke, why, @Nyarky?
This is what Molly actually already is, and is going to be even more so in the future.
And it will be at least something else in the borderless number of sameness most others will come up with.
Edit:
Added the excellency suggested by Yog.
[X] BronzeTongue
This said:
[x] Absolute Dead serious: Hello, I am your potential CEO, what can you offer me if I employ you?
-[X] Etiquette (or Leadership or Empathy, whichever is appropriate) excellency
This should be a joke, why, @Nyarky?
This is what Molly actually already is, and is going to be even more so in the future.
And it will be at least something else in the borderless number of sameness most others will come up with.
Edit:
Added the excellency suggested by Yog.
[X] BronzeTongue
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- Location
- Germany
I guess excentric tech-millionaire isn't a proper job for career-day?
THE EXALTATION APPROVES OF THIS MESSAGE
Seriously though what Molly was feeling was her Exaltation feeling homesick for Creation, as much as an unspeakably ancient weapon of deicide can feel such things.
But you know what? I'm going to vote for it too:
[x] Absolute Dead serious: Hello, I am your potential CEO, what can you offer me if I employ you?
-[X] Etiquette (or Leadership or Empathy, whichever is appropriate) excellency
The best lies are the ones using the truth, yada, yada, yada.
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I mean, we totally should. The world might have been harsher than, but First Age was not all bad, and, bar the Great Curse, there's a chance of greatness there that's lacking in modern world.THE EXALTATION APPROVES OF THIS MESSAGE
Seriously though what Molly was feeling was her Exaltation feeling homesick for Creation, as much as an unspeakably ancient weapon of deicide can feel such things.
She isn't, but she's still a divine scion, no matter how far diluted. With proper prep (read Exalted shenanigans) we could probably strengthen and awaken her divine magic. I mean, "grandiose plan" - use something of Lydia's as a focus to learn how divine ancestry can be strengthened, and apply that.
Barring that, twist Inner Devils Unchained to awaken her divine ancestry (in fact, given the fluff of it, shouldn't it do exactly that anyway?).
Actually... Maybe we should just go to the source and call divine great grandpa? He obviously listened when Olivia's mother prayed. If we make a call on her behalf, with prep and proper power backing (mechanically, an Ephemera ritual done by Harry, with us, Lydia and Olivia participating), he might show up. And if we negotiate well, he might well bestow some power to Olivia. Would this be a possible option?
[x] Absolute Dead serious: Hello, I am your potential CEO, what can you offer me if I employ you?
-[X] Etiquette (or Leadership or Empathy, whichever is appropriate) excellency
- Location
- Germany
Pretty sure the message is just "divine ancestry is not uncommon among sorcerers/minor talents", not that we can activly do anything more with her.
- Location
- Georgia
well.. if you look at genjis khan...
The message is "a lot of minor talents might have some very distant divine ancestry that normally doesn't matter". However, we know that the god in question still exists, or at least existed when Olivia's mother sent her prayers. We are an exalted. If a Prince of the Earth calls on business, it would be wise for a god to at least pick up the phone. It's good for business. Gets you potential future allies. I mean, the god could twist Olivia's magic bypassing normal stuff like free will, and protections afforded to changelings. I am fairly sure they can do some empowerment too, if motivated. At least to ghoul levels, who are in exactly same situation as Olivia.
Catching up.
Bandits do it. Foreign governments do it to other nations as well.
But I dont recall it being just tiredness; if that was true, he'd have been crippled during significant events of Grave Peril.
I dont have the quotes at hand, though.
2)Disagree.
You prevent a person from casting magic by putting them under running water, or chaining them with those fairythorn bracelet things. They still can cast, and will do so. In this case the ability itself appears to have been bound. Somehow.
And its canon as of Grave Peril that you can attack or mess with a person's magic without influencing their mind or soul.
The Nightmare did it to Dresden.
1)To my recollection, living people dont have spirits in the Dresdenverse.
2)The Nightmare took bites out of his magic. Not his spirit, or his soul, just his magic.
Citation:
No physical, mental or psychic damage.
It was even expected to heal normally, if you believe Bob. He was still operating normally for the rest of the book, just with much less magic until he returned the favor to the Nightmare.
===
As an aside, thats also the portion of the book that tells us that mortal dreams, and wizard dreams, connect to the NeverNever.
Some of this is statement of fact, some is Bob's speculation.
But its there.
Thats established international practice.
-Democracies require open information and education on the issues, both of which are in limited supply in the Dresdenverse setting, for both good and bad reasons.
And there are significant powers and interests dedicated to keeping it that way.
Even the Paranet and the Chicago Alliance, despite the increased representation of mortals, werent democracies; they just had more representation of the lesser talents and mortals, instead of having to be this high to ride.
I mean, its not that I dont sympathize with Olivia. But the pressures that shaped supernatural society remain.
And even a more inclusive White Council is going to just be a bigger club for those in the know.
But short of endgame Molly drastically altering the setting,
We do not have Countermagic, whether Ancient Sorcery or hedge magic; that means we lack the tools to defuse it, so its just academic interest. Knowing who and why is way more important.
Doing it for someone is not the same thing as showing them how to do it.
Thats why when your kid brother has trouble with their homework, you walk them through it instead of just doing it while they watch. Moot point now.
Its one of the mission goals of the Council, but its explicitly not part of the Laws, so its precise interpretation is subject to change depending on the time and people.
So you get Donald Morgan, current 2IC of the Wardens fighting for Britain in WW1 as Word of Jim(he would have been 25 in 1914, source: Reddit - Dive into anything), and McCoy, Injun Joe and Artur Langtry, all current Senior Council members, allegedly involved to some extent in the 18th/19th century North American wars, also by Word of God.
2)They generally dont have to; too many preexisting advantages. Pretty much every competitor has been a cackling supervillain.
Furthermore, its hard to set up a rival power in the Dresdenverse with all the other predators out to eat pretenders. See what almost happened to Marcone in Small Favor.
IIRC, the first Merlin, the one who set up the White Council in the first place, was trained by Odin.
Council HQ in Edinburgh allegedly used to be a Fae stronghold; allegedly, Merlin acquired it off a Daoine Sidhe lord. The Gatekeeper was onboard. There were also a lot more saints about from the early Church according to Word of Jim.
There was a significant amount of sponsorship and political dealmaking that went into setting up the White Council and not dying in the early years. Duplicating that effort is...not trivial.
2)Gregori Cristos could, would have never made that threat. It requires incompetence for someone supposed to be a politician.
Nor would it have been credible in the middle of the Vampire War. Schisming in the middle of a war with the Reds would have just made the schismatics targets for everyone.
Ebenezer implies that threats were made, but explicitly states he was not party to the details of what deals were made, so he does not know. Just speculates. Here's the exact citation:
Thats the kind of threat that would get you Blackstaff'd, and the seat given to someone else from the same faction.
Which is why I suspect Ebenezar is misjudging what happened because he dislikes the dude. I would have been interested in seeing Injun Joe's assessment. Or Rashid's, Martha Liberty, or literally any other Senior Council member.
I mean, threats are unnecessary.
If a third of the Council population like or trust you enough to follow you out of the Council, you would have always been likely to win an open vote for a Senior Council seat easily.
Was a backdoor deal made to forestall disaffection and give an outward display of unity, especially after Peabody? Sure.
Was it made under threat of secession?
I strongly doubt it.
Making and enforcing demands doesnt make you a government of an area or a people though.
Bandits do it. Foreign governments do it to other nations as well.
1)I havent read Fool Moon for a while.
But I dont recall it being just tiredness; if that was true, he'd have been crippled during significant events of Grave Peril.
I dont have the quotes at hand, though.
2)Disagree.
You prevent a person from casting magic by putting them under running water, or chaining them with those fairythorn bracelet things. They still can cast, and will do so. In this case the ability itself appears to have been bound. Somehow.
And its canon as of Grave Peril that you can attack or mess with a person's magic without influencing their mind or soul.
The Nightmare did it to Dresden.
You are misremembering.
1)To my recollection, living people dont have spirits in the Dresdenverse.
2)The Nightmare took bites out of his magic. Not his spirit, or his soul, just his magic.
Citation:
I stood up and walked to my work table, my eyes by now adjusted to the dimness. I reached for the nearest candle, but there weren't any matches handy. So, I pointed my finger at it, frowned, and muttered the words, "Flickum bicus."
My spell, a tiny one I had used thousands of times, stuttered and coughed, the energy twitching instead of flowing. The candle's wick smoked, but did not flicker to life.
I frowned, then closed my eyes, made a little bit of an effort, and repeated the spell. This time, I felt a little surge of dizziness, and the candle flickered to life. I braced one hand on the edge of the table.
"Bob," I asked. "Were you watching that?"
"Yeah," Bob said, a frown in his voice.
"What happened?"
"Um. You didn't put enough magic into the spell, the first time around."
"I put as much as I always do," I protested. "Come on, I've done that spell a million times."
"Seventeen hundred and fifty-six, that I've seen."
I gave him a pale version of my usual glower. "You know what I mean."
"Not enough power," Bob said. "I call 'em like I see 'em."
I stared at the candle for a second. Then muttered, to myself, "Why did I have to work to make that thing light up?"
"Probably because the Nightmare took a big bite out of your powers, Harry."
I turned around, very slowly, to blink at Bob. "It … it did what?"
"When it attacked you, in your dream, did it go after a specific place on your body?"
I put my hand to the base of my stomach, pressing there, and felt my eyes go wide.
Bob winced. "Oooooo, chakra point. That isn't good. Got you right in the chi."
"Bob," I whispered.
"Good thing he didn't go after your mojo though, right? I mean, you have to look on the bright side of these—"
"Bob," I said, louder. "Are you saying it … it ate my magic?"
Bob got a defensive look on his face. "Not all of it. I woke you up as quick as I could. Harry, don't worry about it, you'll heal. Sure, you might be down for a couple of months. Or, um, years. Well, decades, possibly, but that's only a very outside chance—"
I cut him off with a slash of my hand. "He ate part of my power," I said. "Does that mean that the Nightmare is stronger?"
"Well, naturally, Harry. You are what you eat."
"Dammit," I snarled, pressing one hand against my forehead. "Okay, okay. We've really got to find this thing now." I started pacing back and forth. "If it's using my power, it makes me responsible for what it does with it."
Bob scoffed. "Harry, that's irrational."
I shot him a look. "That doesn't make it any less true," I snapped.
"Okay," Bob said, meekly. "We have now left Reason and Sanity Junction. Next stop, Looneyville."
"Grrrr," I said, still pacing. "We have to figure out where this thing is going to hit next. It's got all night to move."
"Six hours, thirteen minutes," Bob corrected me. "Shouldn't be hard. I've been reading those journals you got from the ectomancer, while you were sleeping. The thing can show up in nightmares, but there's going to be commonality between all of it. Ghosts can only have the kind of power this Nightmare has while they are acting within the parameters of their specific bailiwick."
My spell, a tiny one I had used thousands of times, stuttered and coughed, the energy twitching instead of flowing. The candle's wick smoked, but did not flicker to life.
I frowned, then closed my eyes, made a little bit of an effort, and repeated the spell. This time, I felt a little surge of dizziness, and the candle flickered to life. I braced one hand on the edge of the table.
"Bob," I asked. "Were you watching that?"
"Yeah," Bob said, a frown in his voice.
"What happened?"
"Um. You didn't put enough magic into the spell, the first time around."
"I put as much as I always do," I protested. "Come on, I've done that spell a million times."
"Seventeen hundred and fifty-six, that I've seen."
I gave him a pale version of my usual glower. "You know what I mean."
"Not enough power," Bob said. "I call 'em like I see 'em."
I stared at the candle for a second. Then muttered, to myself, "Why did I have to work to make that thing light up?"
"Probably because the Nightmare took a big bite out of your powers, Harry."
I turned around, very slowly, to blink at Bob. "It … it did what?"
"When it attacked you, in your dream, did it go after a specific place on your body?"
I put my hand to the base of my stomach, pressing there, and felt my eyes go wide.
Bob winced. "Oooooo, chakra point. That isn't good. Got you right in the chi."
"Bob," I whispered.
"Good thing he didn't go after your mojo though, right? I mean, you have to look on the bright side of these—"
"Bob," I said, louder. "Are you saying it … it ate my magic?"
Bob got a defensive look on his face. "Not all of it. I woke you up as quick as I could. Harry, don't worry about it, you'll heal. Sure, you might be down for a couple of months. Or, um, years. Well, decades, possibly, but that's only a very outside chance—"
I cut him off with a slash of my hand. "He ate part of my power," I said. "Does that mean that the Nightmare is stronger?"
"Well, naturally, Harry. You are what you eat."
"Dammit," I snarled, pressing one hand against my forehead. "Okay, okay. We've really got to find this thing now." I started pacing back and forth. "If it's using my power, it makes me responsible for what it does with it."
Bob scoffed. "Harry, that's irrational."
I shot him a look. "That doesn't make it any less true," I snapped.
"Okay," Bob said, meekly. "We have now left Reason and Sanity Junction. Next stop, Looneyville."
"Grrrr," I said, still pacing. "We have to figure out where this thing is going to hit next. It's got all night to move."
"Six hours, thirteen minutes," Bob corrected me. "Shouldn't be hard. I've been reading those journals you got from the ectomancer, while you were sleeping. The thing can show up in nightmares, but there's going to be commonality between all of it. Ghosts can only have the kind of power this Nightmare has while they are acting within the parameters of their specific bailiwick."
It was even expected to heal normally, if you believe Bob. He was still operating normally for the rest of the book, just with much less magic until he returned the favor to the Nightmare.
===
As an aside, thats also the portion of the book that tells us that mortal dreams, and wizard dreams, connect to the NeverNever.
I shook my head, rested my elbows on my knees, and put my face in my hands. I did not want to be doing this. Someone else could do it. I should go, leave town. "It was a spirit that jumped me?"
"Yeah."
I shook my head. "That doesn't make any sense. How did it get past the threshold?"
"Your threshold isn't so hot to begin with, Bachelor Man."
I worked up enough courage to scowl at Bob. "The wards, then. I've got all the doors and windows warded. And I don't have any mirrors it could have used."
If Bob had any hands, he would have been rubbing them together. "Exactly," he said. "Yes, exactly."
My stomach quailed again, and a fresh burst of shuddering made me put my hands in my lap. I felt like sprawling somewhere, crying my eyes out, puking up whatever shreds of dignity remained in my stomach, and then crawling into a hole and pulling it in after me. I swallowed. "It … it never came in to me, then, is what you're saying. It never had to cross those boundaries."
Bob nodded, eyes burning brightly. "Exactly. You went out to it."
"When I was dreaming?"
"Yes, yes, yes," Bob bubbled. "It makes sense now—don't you see?"
"Not really."
"Dreams," the skull said. "When a mortal dreams, all kinds of strange things can happen. When a wizard dreams, it can be even weirder. Sometimes, dreams can be intense enough to create a little, temporary world of their own. Kind of a bubble in the Nevernever. Remember how you told me Agatha Hagglethorn was a strong enough ghost to have had her own demesne in the Nevernever?"
"Yeah. It looked kind of like old Chicago."
"Well, people can do the same, at times."
"But I'm not a ghost, Bob."
"No," he said. "You're not. But you've got everything it takes to make a ghost inside you except for the right set of circumstances. Ghosts are only frozen images of people, Harry, last impressions made by a personality." Bob paused, reflectively. "People are almost always more trouble than anything you run into on the Other Side."
"I hadn't noticed," I said. "All right. So you're saying that any time I dream, it creates my own little rent-by-the-hour demesne in the Nevernever."
"Not every time," Bob said. "In fact, not even most times. Only really intense dreams, I suspect, bring the necessary energy out of people. But, with the border being so turbulent and easy to get through …"
"More people's dreams are making bubbles on the other side. That must have been how it got to poor Micky Malone, then. While he was sleeping. His wife said he'd had insomnia that night. So the thing hangs around outside his house waiting for him to fall asleep and starts killing fuzzy animals to fill up the time."
"Yeah."
I shook my head. "That doesn't make any sense. How did it get past the threshold?"
"Your threshold isn't so hot to begin with, Bachelor Man."
I worked up enough courage to scowl at Bob. "The wards, then. I've got all the doors and windows warded. And I don't have any mirrors it could have used."
If Bob had any hands, he would have been rubbing them together. "Exactly," he said. "Yes, exactly."
My stomach quailed again, and a fresh burst of shuddering made me put my hands in my lap. I felt like sprawling somewhere, crying my eyes out, puking up whatever shreds of dignity remained in my stomach, and then crawling into a hole and pulling it in after me. I swallowed. "It … it never came in to me, then, is what you're saying. It never had to cross those boundaries."
Bob nodded, eyes burning brightly. "Exactly. You went out to it."
"When I was dreaming?"
"Yes, yes, yes," Bob bubbled. "It makes sense now—don't you see?"
"Not really."
"Dreams," the skull said. "When a mortal dreams, all kinds of strange things can happen. When a wizard dreams, it can be even weirder. Sometimes, dreams can be intense enough to create a little, temporary world of their own. Kind of a bubble in the Nevernever. Remember how you told me Agatha Hagglethorn was a strong enough ghost to have had her own demesne in the Nevernever?"
"Yeah. It looked kind of like old Chicago."
"Well, people can do the same, at times."
"But I'm not a ghost, Bob."
"No," he said. "You're not. But you've got everything it takes to make a ghost inside you except for the right set of circumstances. Ghosts are only frozen images of people, Harry, last impressions made by a personality." Bob paused, reflectively. "People are almost always more trouble than anything you run into on the Other Side."
"I hadn't noticed," I said. "All right. So you're saying that any time I dream, it creates my own little rent-by-the-hour demesne in the Nevernever."
"Not every time," Bob said. "In fact, not even most times. Only really intense dreams, I suspect, bring the necessary energy out of people. But, with the border being so turbulent and easy to get through …"
"More people's dreams are making bubbles on the other side. That must have been how it got to poor Micky Malone, then. While he was sleeping. His wife said he'd had insomnia that night. So the thing hangs around outside his house waiting for him to fall asleep and starts killing fuzzy animals to fill up the time."
But its there.
-Democratic governments regularly make modern treaties with nondemocratic governments and consider them binding on the people of the other nation. And expect other nations to conform to standards of behavior that may not be domestically popular.
Thats established international practice.
-Democracies require open information and education on the issues, both of which are in limited supply in the Dresdenverse setting, for both good and bad reasons.
And there are significant powers and interests dedicated to keeping it that way.
Even the Paranet and the Chicago Alliance, despite the increased representation of mortals, werent democracies; they just had more representation of the lesser talents and mortals, instead of having to be this high to ride.
I mean, its not that I dont sympathize with Olivia. But the pressures that shaped supernatural society remain.
And even a more inclusive White Council is going to just be a bigger club for those in the know.
But short of endgame Molly drastically altering the setting,
Not particularly.
We do not have Countermagic, whether Ancient Sorcery or hedge magic; that means we lack the tools to defuse it, so its just academic interest. Knowing who and why is way more important.
Doing it for someone is not the same thing as showing them how to do it.
Thats why when your kid brother has trouble with their homework, you walk them through it instead of just doing it while they watch. Moot point now.
1)I quoted this earlier. The Council exists to limit the power of wizards. Including political power.
Its one of the mission goals of the Council, but its explicitly not part of the Laws, so its precise interpretation is subject to change depending on the time and people.
So you get Donald Morgan, current 2IC of the Wardens fighting for Britain in WW1 as Word of Jim(he would have been 25 in 1914, source: Reddit - Dive into anything), and McCoy, Injun Joe and Artur Langtry, all current Senior Council members, allegedly involved to some extent in the 18th/19th century North American wars, also by Word of God.
2)They generally dont have to; too many preexisting advantages. Pretty much every competitor has been a cackling supervillain.
Furthermore, its hard to set up a rival power in the Dresdenverse with all the other predators out to eat pretenders. See what almost happened to Marcone in Small Favor.
IIRC, the first Merlin, the one who set up the White Council in the first place, was trained by Odin.
Council HQ in Edinburgh allegedly used to be a Fae stronghold; allegedly, Merlin acquired it off a Daoine Sidhe lord. The Gatekeeper was onboard. There were also a lot more saints about from the early Church according to Word of Jim.
There was a significant amount of sponsorship and political dealmaking that went into setting up the White Council and not dying in the early years. Duplicating that effort is...not trivial.
1)Thats inaccurate. Ebenezer McCoy got his friend Simon Petrovich's seat after Summer Knight. Gregori Cristos got his mentor Aleron LaFortier's seat after Turn Coat, because he was LaFortier's protege, and a lot of the people who got murdered by Peabody in his escape attempt were LaFortier supporters and sympathizers.
2)Gregori Cristos could, would have never made that threat. It requires incompetence for someone supposed to be a politician.
Nor would it have been credible in the middle of the Vampire War. Schisming in the middle of a war with the Reds would have just made the schismatics targets for everyone.
Ebenezer implies that threats were made, but explicitly states he was not party to the details of what deals were made, so he does not know. Just speculates. Here's the exact citation:
We hadn't gone far when I realized that Ebenezar was taking a roundabout route to the Way, through tunnels that were largely unused and unlit. He conjured a dim red light to his staff, just enough to let us see our way, and in the color least likely to be noticed.
"Well," he said, "we filled LaFortier's seat on the Senior Council today."
"Klaus the Toymaker?" I asked.
Ebenezar shook his head slowly. "Klaus didn't say it, but I suspect the Merlin asked him to decline. Gregori Cristos got the seat."
I frowned. The seats on the Senior Council were awarded geriocratically . Whoever had the most years of service in the Council was offered the position of leadership, though there was nothing that required a wizard to accept a seat when it was available. "Who the hell is that? He's not up at the top of the seniority list."
My mentor grimaced. "Aye. A Greek, and an unpleasant bastard. He's lived all through southern Asia over the past couple of centuries. Distinguished himself in the battle with that rakshasa raja the Council took on recently."
"I remember when it happened," I said. "I heard it was pretty crazy."
Ebenezar grunted. "He was LaFortier's protégé."
I took that in, processing the logic. "I thought that bloc had been appeased."
"When someone wants power, you can't buy him off," Ebenezar said. "He'll take what you offer and keep on coming. And Cristos as much as told the Merlin that he and his allies would secede from the Council if he didn't get the seat."
"Jesus," I said quietly.
He nodded. "Might as well give the Red Court the keys to all our gates and let them kill us in our sleep. Fewer bystanders would get hurt."
"So the Merlin made a deal," I said.
"Didn't have a lot of choice. Cristos's people gained a lot of support after they lost so many at the trial. He'd have taken a third of the Council with him."
"Screw the selection process, huh?"
Ebenezar grimaced. "It's never been codified by anything but tradition. Oh, the Merlin made a show of adhering to it, but I guarantee you it was arranged behind the scenes, Hoss." He shook his head. "The Senior Council has issued official positions on LaFortier's assassination."
"Let me guess," I said. "Lone gunman."
He frowned at that for a moment, and then nodded. "Oh, Kennedy. Yes. It was an act of individuals motivated by profit. There is no evidence to suggest the presence of an organized conspiracy. There is no Black Council."
I stared blankly at Ebenezar. "That's . . . stupid."
"Damn right," he said. "But they had a majority. The Merlin, Cristos, Mai, Martha Liberty, and the Gatekeeper."
I shook my head. "What the hell does he think he's accomplishing?"
Ebenezar shrugged. "He's never been easy to read. And I've known him since I was sixteen years old. Two or three explanations come to mind."
"Like, maybe he's Black Council."
Ebenezar walked for several steps in silence. Then he said, "Aye."
"Well," he said, "we filled LaFortier's seat on the Senior Council today."
"Klaus the Toymaker?" I asked.
Ebenezar shook his head slowly. "Klaus didn't say it, but I suspect the Merlin asked him to decline. Gregori Cristos got the seat."
I frowned. The seats on the Senior Council were awarded geriocratically . Whoever had the most years of service in the Council was offered the position of leadership, though there was nothing that required a wizard to accept a seat when it was available. "Who the hell is that? He's not up at the top of the seniority list."
My mentor grimaced. "Aye. A Greek, and an unpleasant bastard. He's lived all through southern Asia over the past couple of centuries. Distinguished himself in the battle with that rakshasa raja the Council took on recently."
"I remember when it happened," I said. "I heard it was pretty crazy."
Ebenezar grunted. "He was LaFortier's protégé."
I took that in, processing the logic. "I thought that bloc had been appeased."
"When someone wants power, you can't buy him off," Ebenezar said. "He'll take what you offer and keep on coming. And Cristos as much as told the Merlin that he and his allies would secede from the Council if he didn't get the seat."
"Jesus," I said quietly.
He nodded. "Might as well give the Red Court the keys to all our gates and let them kill us in our sleep. Fewer bystanders would get hurt."
"So the Merlin made a deal," I said.
"Didn't have a lot of choice. Cristos's people gained a lot of support after they lost so many at the trial. He'd have taken a third of the Council with him."
"Screw the selection process, huh?"
Ebenezar grimaced. "It's never been codified by anything but tradition. Oh, the Merlin made a show of adhering to it, but I guarantee you it was arranged behind the scenes, Hoss." He shook his head. "The Senior Council has issued official positions on LaFortier's assassination."
"Let me guess," I said. "Lone gunman."
He frowned at that for a moment, and then nodded. "Oh, Kennedy. Yes. It was an act of individuals motivated by profit. There is no evidence to suggest the presence of an organized conspiracy. There is no Black Council."
I stared blankly at Ebenezar. "That's . . . stupid."
"Damn right," he said. "But they had a majority. The Merlin, Cristos, Mai, Martha Liberty, and the Gatekeeper."
I shook my head. "What the hell does he think he's accomplishing?"
Ebenezar shrugged. "He's never been easy to read. And I've known him since I was sixteen years old. Two or three explanations come to mind."
"Like, maybe he's Black Council."
Ebenezar walked for several steps in silence. Then he said, "Aye."
Which is why I suspect Ebenezar is misjudging what happened because he dislikes the dude. I would have been interested in seeing Injun Joe's assessment. Or Rashid's, Martha Liberty, or literally any other Senior Council member.
I mean, threats are unnecessary.
If a third of the Council population like or trust you enough to follow you out of the Council, you would have always been likely to win an open vote for a Senior Council seat easily.
Was a backdoor deal made to forestall disaffection and give an outward display of unity, especially after Peabody? Sure.
Was it made under threat of secession?
I strongly doubt it.
Continued.
:checks:
Glezos appears to be an OC. So no standout there.
-Nah.
This isnt a situation solved by handing out powerups.
We're not going to solve teenage insecurities by handing out weapons.
Especially since I am reasonably sure that there is no condition under which we'd be able to make Daniel a peer of Lydia, let alone Molly, at a reasonable cost. He'll always have to deal with the fact that his sister and girlfriend wield way more power than he does, and that there's risks they can take he cant.
He came to terms with that in canon. He'll do so here as well with a little guidance and compassion.
Whether he chooses to stay as involved with the supernatural as he gets older remains to be seen.Some dont.
A significant fraction of the Alphas didnt after they graduated college.
If he chooses to do so, Exalted Crafting gives Molly options for upgrades that dont require bakemono or wishes.
After all, if Dresden magic enchanting allows a black hat wizard to make Hexenwulf belts for their FBI agent dupes in Fool Moon?
Molly can probably do better. Safely.
That said, meeting people in the know might help. Butters might be good for him. As might the Alphas.
-Worth remembering: all the known Knights of the Cross have a king somewhere in their ancestry.
Michael Carpenter is (distantly) descended from Charlemagne.Just like Sanya is supposed to be a descendant of Saladdin, and Shiro was supposed to be descended from the kings of Okinawa.
Butters is almost certainly descended from one of the kings of Israel. Murphy I dunno.
Might be relevant in the future.
God and ancestor. Called it. This always felt more like someone doing something for her benefit.
I wonder if the Ravana who's supposed to be the brother of her distant ancestor, is the same Ravana thats supposed to rule the Hell of Lanka. Because the names dont seem to be a coincidence.
Interesting to finally notice the Little Folk. Took her long enough.
I have no doubt they've been about for a long time, because they are curious little buggers, and theres hundreds of thousands of them in the Chicago area alone.
For every wonder they dont see, they get to be blind to some of the terrors of the night people.
Some might consider it a fair trade.
And we keep getting prompted to buy some Investigation.......*adds to list of Perception, Awareness, Alertness, Medicine...*
Molly's going to college. At least if I have anything to say about it.
So what to do on career day....?
COMMENTARY
:checks:
Glezos appears to be an OC. So no standout there.
-Nah.
This isnt a situation solved by handing out powerups.
We're not going to solve teenage insecurities by handing out weapons.
Especially since I am reasonably sure that there is no condition under which we'd be able to make Daniel a peer of Lydia, let alone Molly, at a reasonable cost. He'll always have to deal with the fact that his sister and girlfriend wield way more power than he does, and that there's risks they can take he cant.
He came to terms with that in canon. He'll do so here as well with a little guidance and compassion.
Whether he chooses to stay as involved with the supernatural as he gets older remains to be seen.Some dont.
A significant fraction of the Alphas didnt after they graduated college.
If he chooses to do so, Exalted Crafting gives Molly options for upgrades that dont require bakemono or wishes.
After all, if Dresden magic enchanting allows a black hat wizard to make Hexenwulf belts for their FBI agent dupes in Fool Moon?
Molly can probably do better. Safely.
That said, meeting people in the know might help. Butters might be good for him. As might the Alphas.
-Worth remembering: all the known Knights of the Cross have a king somewhere in their ancestry.
Michael Carpenter is (distantly) descended from Charlemagne.Just like Sanya is supposed to be a descendant of Saladdin, and Shiro was supposed to be descended from the kings of Okinawa.
Butters is almost certainly descended from one of the kings of Israel. Murphy I dunno.
Might be relevant in the future.
COMMENTARY
God and ancestor. Called it. This always felt more like someone doing something for her benefit.
I wonder if the Ravana who's supposed to be the brother of her distant ancestor, is the same Ravana thats supposed to rule the Hell of Lanka. Because the names dont seem to be a coincidence.
Interesting to finally notice the Little Folk. Took her long enough.
I have no doubt they've been about for a long time, because they are curious little buggers, and theres hundreds of thousands of them in the Chicago area alone.
For every wonder they dont see, they get to be blind to some of the terrors of the night people.
Some might consider it a fair trade.
And we keep getting prompted to buy some Investigation.......*adds to list of Perception, Awareness, Alertness, Medicine...*
Molly's going to college. At least if I have anything to say about it.
So what to do on career day....?
- Location
- Germany
And have to power themselves by eating unnatural amounts of meat and also got a desire for human flesh out of the deal.
Being a Ghoul is more curse than blessing, even if they got some minor benefits out of the deal.
If her ancestry shows itself in her talent, then that's propably all that there is to it.
- Location
- Germany
Ebenezer literally said he threatened to seccede, in your own quote?
And that the Merlin took the threat seriously, rather than set the Blackstaff on him.
While this is 100% true it does not matter to Olivia, she is in the position of someone who is trying to expand the franchise, because she is being policed without representation. She wants a vote and she does not want to be policed by strangers whose motivations and standards she can only guess at. The desire for safety is second only to basic physiological needs and she feels unsafe knowing her life is in the hands of wizards who get to be judge jury and executioner in the name of their interpretation of the Law. Does she get a lawyer? What are the standards of evidence? What happens is someone frames her?
Compared to these rather urgent fears theoretical arguments about international law and how that applies to treaties and legitimacy leave her very cold.
I wouldn't call the blessings (agelessness or close enough, and serious physical boosts) so minor. And she already has magic, as a human, so her ancestry is stronger. Her divine ancestor is also benevolent...
In any case, even if just to solve the issue with her magic, calling the one who did the twisting in the first place and explaining that the girl he blessed with protection has grown up and can make her own choices now is the simplest and probably the best option.
I mean, we can either break the twist ourselves (totally doable, but would take effort), or we can talk to the person who did it.
- Location
- Germany
Definitly not.
We are independantly wealthy, we have access to people with college-education as minions if we want some.
We will very soon be busy as hell with our Hell and with making grand changes to the world and such things.
We have just seen how trivially easy manipulating regular humans you don't really care about can be, just two updates ago, so I think the idea that we need it for the appearance or the connections is completly disconnected from the reality of the quest.
It's a complete waste of time and if we really wanted any skill college can teach, we can learn it faster in self-study (spending XP).
Small note here, Olivia's divine ancestry is Rakshasa. I would not call that broadly benevolent even if her specific ancestor is.
Intelligence 4. Dexterity 4. Craft 3. Tech 2.
Chef.
Automobile technician.
Airplane technician.
Jewelry crafting.
Carpenter.
Mechanical engineer.
Strength 4. Dexterity 4. Athletics 2. Melee 5.
Movie stuntswoman.
Medieval warlord.
Olympic athlete.
===
Funny enough, it would be more appropriate to swap things around, and have Serious: Cook/Mechanic and Goofy:Athletics/Melee.
Those map better to modern life.
Still, she's allowed a little goofiness. The month has been serious business so far.
VOTE
[X] Goofy: Hello, I am Molly Carpenter, cook-mechanic extraordinaire
Looking forward to seeing her make the actually serious option goofy.