*Infernal Exaltation revs up* Bad ideas are my middle name. I'm Bbbad to the Bone
Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
*Infernal Exaltation revs up* Bad ideas are my middle name. I'm Bbbad to the Bone
Can we ask Harry what the cost of failure is? He has a limited number of days to do his task. What, exactly, happens if he fails?
Mab was not clear on the matter, though given that it is Mab you can be sure it would be bad.
Frankly, if we're giving Holt the royal 'flee when she drives in our direction' treatment we have no business shortchanging Mab of all people.
Not that I want to serve the guy up, but unless we think we can pull one over on one of the trickiest people in the setting we'll end up paying a price for intervening.
We have one dot in enemy with the court as a whole, that isn't the same as spitting in Mab's face directly like that.
Even if you were right, already hating us would just be more encouragement for harsh retaliation.
Yeah, I am tempted to think that doing neither is an option we should consider. Yeah, maybe we can fuck over Mab with some tricky thinking, but maybe we should leave the fucking over Mab to the death god who has fucked over Mab successfully before.
Or we find him and use a question focused on him to ask "How can this person escape Mab before Harry Dresden can contact Mab without hurting anyone?"
Or we don't encourage Harry to do anything that risks Mab's ire and instead knock Harry the fuck out after we find the target so he has time to flee without asking permission first so Harry can honestly say he did his best.
Or we find him and use a question focused on him to ask "How can this person escape Mab before Harry Dresden can contact Mab without hurting anyone?"
Or we don't encourage Harry to do anything that risks Mab's ire and instead knock Harry the fuck out after we find the target so he has time to flee without asking permission first so Harry can honestly say he did his best.
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That seems fair. Giving him enough time to finish his project, assuming it isn't something awful, might be doable - but not directly opposing Mab like that.
Frankly, Ankou knew what he was getting into when he made those oaths and when he broke them. Winter might not be good guys, but that doesn't make him one for betraying them or reduce the legitimacy of their grievance.
To an extent I'm sympathetic, but he made this bed for himself twice over. I'm more concerned about limiting the fallout on his daughter than on him.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
@DragonParadox, Could Harry somehow arrange magical communication between Lydia and her father? Even if it's just something like 'Run, Mab is coming!'?
That would be advanced mind magic and Harry does not even know the basic stuff so unfortunately he would not even know where to begin doing that.
How could Mab even impose a cost of failure?
I can see how she could in case of betrayal, but if Harry had stayed locked up for the week, for example, I'm not sure what a penalty would be based on.
Arawn is also someone I'd like to sit down with and trade knowledge with. Anyone that can make a new mantle like that is worthy of respect.
As an Infernal brewing up a new afterlife in their soul, a better understanding of death may be pretty useful.
I can see how she could in case of betrayal, but if Harry had stayed locked up for the week, for example, I'm not sure what a penalty would be based on.
Arawn is also someone I'd like to sit down with and trade knowledge with. Anyone that can make a new mantle like that is worthy of respect.
As an Infernal brewing up a new afterlife in their soul, a better understanding of death may be pretty useful.
- Location
- Russia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Something seems missing.
Oh my. Are we sure this isn't a plot to get Lydia as a replacement for her father by Mab? That would be an appropriate revenge from her, I feel, especially if Lydia being was only possible because of Ankou slipping the leash. Also Mab standoff. Shame we don't have "kill immortals" charm yet.
On the given options... Dealing with Lasciel is a bad idea. Like, totally bad. And Mab would probably know, and it would still be a breach of Harry's word. That's probably a no go. Calling Mab now wouldn't fulfill the oath - Harry still hasn't found elder Ankou.
I'll point out that Mab, as a once-human, might be susceptible to the Black Feast. So a Galaxy Brain move would be to lure her into the ritual and feed her to Molly / Lydia / Gard. That's totally a stupid idea, though.
We could just leave Harry here, so he could continue his search for Ankou on his own, while we deal with Holt and find Ankou via the Crown, which should be faster than Harry's methods.
Also, "find" doesn't mean "be able to get to. So, find Ankou without Harry. Warn him, so he can escape, then give Harry his location, and let him summon Mab.
On the given options... Dealing with Lasciel is a bad idea. Like, totally bad. And Mab would probably know, and it would still be a breach of Harry's word. That's probably a no go. Calling Mab now wouldn't fulfill the oath - Harry still hasn't found elder Ankou.
I'll point out that Mab, as a once-human, might be susceptible to the Black Feast. So a Galaxy Brain move would be to lure her into the ritual and feed her to Molly / Lydia / Gard. That's totally a stupid idea, though.
We could just leave Harry here, so he could continue his search for Ankou on his own, while we deal with Holt and find Ankou via the Crown, which should be faster than Harry's methods.
Also, "find" doesn't mean "be able to get to. So, find Ankou without Harry. Warn him, so he can escape, then give Harry his location, and let him summon Mab.
@DragonParadox shouldn't finding out about Arawn slipping his leash net us Essence?
- Location
- Norway
The update says "Gain 2 Essence -> Now at 9/12".
Oops, missed that, sorry.
Because Mab still owns Harry and the only reason that she hasn't invoked that debt to do something horrible to him is that he's still useful. The moment he fails to be useful Mab can decide she wants to invoke her ownership by puppeting him into a pack of ghouls.
Harry cannot afford to betray Mab.
So I circle around back to plan "Punch Harry in the head the moment we find the death god."
You know, if after this Arawn needs to hide out from Mab for a while, Molly's Thousand and Oneth Hell would be an ideal place…
Mab doesn't own Harry. He owes her favours, but they're not limitless.
Mab doesn't own Harry. He owes her favours, but they're not limitless.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
We need a third option, because calling Mab or trying to bargain with Lash is completely out of the question.
The easiest but potentially least helpful option is leaving Harry behind. That loses us all of the considerable assistance he can provide, and would be really suboptimal.
We could render him unconscious after we find Ankou before he has time to contact Mab. It might work, but it could also earn us Mab's ire, which we really, really don't want.
Or we could just not try to game this scenario at all. We use our full available resources, including Harry, to stop the ritual and deal with Katrina, then let Harry do what he needs to do to keep Mab happy. This option sucks for Ankou, but he made his bed and now he has to lay in it. His happiness and continued existence doesn't supersede Harry's, IMO. This route, however, has the unfortunate side-effect of possibly alienating or even making an enemy of Lydia.
I'm leaning toward option #3.
The easiest but potentially least helpful option is leaving Harry behind. That loses us all of the considerable assistance he can provide, and would be really suboptimal.
We could render him unconscious after we find Ankou before he has time to contact Mab. It might work, but it could also earn us Mab's ire, which we really, really don't want.
Or we could just not try to game this scenario at all. We use our full available resources, including Harry, to stop the ritual and deal with Katrina, then let Harry do what he needs to do to keep Mab happy. This option sucks for Ankou, but he made his bed and now he has to lay in it. His happiness and continued existence doesn't supersede Harry's, IMO. This route, however, has the unfortunate side-effect of possibly alienating or even making an enemy of Lydia.
I'm leaning toward option #3.
- Location
- Germany
Then he fails to uphold his deal.
I'd be okay with that.
Not really acceptable for me.
Mab might win in some way anyway, but you never let her have the most obvious win.
What I would suggest is the following:
We rescue Arawn (I think calling him the Ankou is wrong now) and then everyone who doesn't owe a debt to Mab stands against her. With the Ankou being an independant god she can't just collect him without a fight.
And with a Sword and a Valkyrie and us supporting him, she would have to go in pretty heavy to actually secure him.
Result would be Winter as a big enemy, but that's where the fun starts for me.
Yeah. It is fully viable to look Harry in the eyes and go.
"I'm sorry. I can't hand someone over to Mab. Not me. Not after what happened. I'm glad you are out of jail, but this is where our paths split again. I hope things work out in the end."
And then we focus on stopping the actual villains of this story and keeping the two girls in our care safe until the dust settles. If we find Ankou we get his side of the story and maybe warn him, maybe see if he can work something out to let Harry technically fill his task without risking Ankou.
The Valkyrie works for a Father of Winter and has no reason to care about a death god. I would not count on her support.
"I'm sorry. I can't hand someone over to Mab. Not me. Not after what happened. I'm glad you are out of jail, but this is where our paths split again. I hope things work out in the end."
And then we focus on stopping the actual villains of this story and keeping the two girls in our care safe until the dust settles. If we find Ankou we get his side of the story and maybe warn him, maybe see if he can work something out to let Harry technically fill his task without risking Ankou.
The Valkyrie works for a Father of Winter and has no reason to care about a death god. I would not count on her support.
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"Well, Molly, I don't really know. Mab thinks he was jealous of his perfectly styled evil goatee."
Problematic, although there's nothing stopping Molly from warning Arawn that Harry is bound to summon Mab when it is reasonable to do so.
Presumably he can run and hide, Mab already knows that he's in Chicago given she gave this task to Harry.
If she could find him from proximity then she could just fly over the city a few times at night.
The danger of forcing Lydia into taking his place is there, although there's not a lot that can be done there.
I presume if the Ankou dies his mantle will switch to her, Winter Court Mantles don't really seem to care about consent.
Or she convinces Lydia to take on the role willingly to save her father from one terrible fate or another.
Again, not a lot to be done as Molly is certainly not ready to throw down with Mab.
The least we can do is make sure no necromancer god is created, warn Arawn in good faith but basically accept things as they come.
Leaning on Lash is a bad idea at this point, I don't think she can be considered reliable at this point.
Presumably he can run and hide, Mab already knows that he's in Chicago given she gave this task to Harry.
If she could find him from proximity then she could just fly over the city a few times at night.
The danger of forcing Lydia into taking his place is there, although there's not a lot that can be done there.
I presume if the Ankou dies his mantle will switch to her, Winter Court Mantles don't really seem to care about consent.
Or she convinces Lydia to take on the role willingly to save her father from one terrible fate or another.
Again, not a lot to be done as Molly is certainly not ready to throw down with Mab.
The least we can do is make sure no necromancer god is created, warn Arawn in good faith but basically accept things as they come.
Leaning on Lash is a bad idea at this point, I don't think she can be considered reliable at this point.
- Location
- Germany
Solidarity among psychopomps?