- Location
- No
I'm just waiting for when Taz inevitably screws everyone over
Hell to Pay
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
Modus_Tollens
SCREAMING AT THE APOCALYPSE
- Location
- ALSO SCREAMING.
If she does it right, though, she will screw everyone over in a way that they thank her for. Its like with Saint: She is manipulating the living fuck out of him every step of the way, telling very carefully shaped truths and exploiting permissions far past their original spirit, but everything is arguably necessary and desirable. Enough to spur a fight but not enough to force a break with her host.
She is anything except a blunt instrument.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
Police decommission and sell equipment regularly. So long as it's not a restricted item - which us pretty much limited to automatic weapons, badges, unit patches, riot gas and explosives - there's nothing illegal about buying from a police auction. It's most commonly seized property, but old police gear is sometimes in there too.
A set of ex-police body armor with the unit patches removed is plausible.
If resistance played that big a role, nobody would be afraid of fighting an angel. A human wizard would have a problem getting healing to stick. Taziel is not a human wizard.
Taziel's healing abilities have been repeatedly shown - not only has she healed Saint mid battle from various injuries, but even in the previous story she was capable of healing Lazarus' mom. It's been a major part of the story for a very long time, so only expressing doubt about it now seems pretty weird.
- Location
- Oblivion
Remember the rules of the coins, they can't use their powers.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
In the Buffyverse, healing is easy. In the Dresdenverse, magic is significantly more obedient to basic logic (and people don't have a HP bar), so healing is hard.
Not that you're wrong, since Taziel was always from the Dresdenverse, but I can see how the idea wouldn't catch on earlier.
28
I crossed my arms and looked at the group gathered around the table, "Now, the Archive is seriously badass in the magic department. If I were to make a grab for her," I said and looked to the seemingly small child sitting by the table, "I'd make damn sure I could hold her. It's need to be powerful and god damn fucking perfect or she'd break out like a gorilla in a cardboard box and turn my arse into a frog. Correct?"
Ivy nodded gravely, "Essentially correct. But I prefer bunnies."
"Noted. Right," I said and looked to Dresden and… what was her name again? Lucio?
"Warden Anastasia Lucio, my host," Taziel murmured in my ear.
"This means isolated as not to be disturbed and ideally hooked into a leyline of some sort. Anything that comes to mind that matches those two?"
Lucio nodded, "It does," she said and reached into her bag, unrolling a map on the table, "There are a number of ley-lines across Chicago. We just need to find one that matches those criteria."
Dresden looked at me warily for a moment before he also nodded and studied the map for a second, "Here," he finally said and put his finger on an island in the middle of the lake, "This island."
"There are no islands in the lake," Molly said, leaning in to look at the map.
I tuned them out and looked down at the map.
'Are you sure of this, Taziel?'
"I'm not, my host," Taziel answered, projecting her image next to me, leaning down to look at the map, "I think the location is right still."
'That's not what I mean,' I told her silently, keeping my eyes on the map, 'Do you think we can take them?'
"If I didn't think so, I would never let you go," she answered as she turned to frown at me, "With the wizards and the Knight with us, and with Anduriel down to just Archleone and his family… it's the best change we would have for a long, long time. We might not be able to outright kill Anduriel at this time, but if we managed to take away Archleone from him, it would be the biggest victory against that fucker since the Rebellion. I'd like to kill him, but I'd settle for dropping his coin in the deepest darkest hole we can find for the next couple of thousand years."
"How are we getting there?" Murphy asked finally.
"I have transport," the Valkyrie standing next to her said, "But I have no way of finding the island, especially if it disrupts modern navigation like Dresden believes."
"I could navigate, my Host," Taziel said with a smile, "I'll find them."
"We can point the way," I said, looking over to Gard, "If you can get us there, I can guide us."
"What is the plan here exactly?" Murphy asked, "Going in guns blazing isn't much of a plan."
"That's exactly the plan," I said with a grin, "Shock and awe. If they didn't have a hostage we're trying to recover, I'd recommend an airstrike and turn the entire bloody island into a pile of rubble. I have no intention of fighting anyone in honorable combat if I can help it. But I'm thinking we hit them hard and fast and not give them time to recover. Think you two can nuke them?"
"If by nuke you mean evocation," Lucio said, "Then yes. Both Dresden and I are skilled evocators."
I nodded, "Well, that'll come in handy. How are we getting there?"
"Helicopter," Ward said before she looked to Dresden and Lucio, "Assuming you are able to ride in one without having it malfunction?"
Dresden looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded, "I have some ideas."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I looked out through the dark night through the forward window of the helicopter as the engine roared, propelling us through the night. Not sure where Gard got it, but I wasn't about to complain about it. As I, or rather Taziel, was navigating I was sitting in the copilot's seat while Gard was piloting it.
In the passenger compartment behind us was Mister Hendriks manning the very much illegal door mounted minigun. Dresden and Lucio were sitting next to each other by one of the seats, their right arms connected at the wrist with a pair of fancy thorned handcuffs. Something to keep their magic from disrupting the machinery of the helicopter. We really didn't want it to undergo unplanned rapid disassembly above the lake.
While I would survive it, I was fairly sure nobody else would.
The last person in the helicopter was Michael Carpenter in full on Holy Knight Paladin dressup.
With his Sword.
That Sword made Taziel intensely uncomfortable and I could feel it too. It was almost like standing next to a burning rod of glowing red iron, a kind of radiating heat from it.
Taziels eyes burned above mine, her symbol glowing on my forehead and she borrowed control of my right hand and mouth as she pointed a bit towards the left, "A bit further that way, Miss Gard."
Sanya and the rest of the group were in a boat down on the water, already heading out towards the island to reinforce us after the first assault.
Gard simply nodded and we shifted course slightly.
I closed my eyes, keeping my breathing smooth and deep.
There were three Denarians, three Fallen against us.
Nicodemius and Anduriel, mobility and close quarters combat while having high durability. Close to myself and Taziel actually but I bet I was better and tougher.
His daughter, Deirdre and Pasuriel. Close quarters expert and walking blender. She was dangerous if you got close, but not necessarily a threat with our backup.
Polonius Lartessa and her fallen Imariel. Witch and spellcaster and priority fucking target one.
Gank the geek in the dress first applied hard. Even, or perhaps especially, when we have our own magical backup for once.
She needed to go down and she needed to go down fast. Which considering that she was almost as difficult to kill as Nicky was a bit of a tall order, but I had some ideas.
"There," Taziel said, "The Island."
"I see it," Gard agreed and glanced back into the passenger compartment, "Get ready, five minutes! We're not doing any passes, I'm just going to drop you in the middle and go circling for targets!"
I nodded and opened my eyes as well, looking out into the darkness with my own eyes and not just Taziels. It was a dark shape cut against the darkness of the cloudy night.
I started to do a quick final check on my equipment. Grenades, submachine gun, pistol, sword hidden in the pocket dimension in my jacket.
I didn't bother with body armour this time around, it wouldn't help, just slow me down.
"Are you sure of this, my host?" Taziel whispered into my ear, "If we fail...if they defeat us..."
'If.'
Ivy nodded gravely, "Essentially correct. But I prefer bunnies."
"Noted. Right," I said and looked to Dresden and… what was her name again? Lucio?
"Warden Anastasia Lucio, my host," Taziel murmured in my ear.
"This means isolated as not to be disturbed and ideally hooked into a leyline of some sort. Anything that comes to mind that matches those two?"
Lucio nodded, "It does," she said and reached into her bag, unrolling a map on the table, "There are a number of ley-lines across Chicago. We just need to find one that matches those criteria."
Dresden looked at me warily for a moment before he also nodded and studied the map for a second, "Here," he finally said and put his finger on an island in the middle of the lake, "This island."
"There are no islands in the lake," Molly said, leaning in to look at the map.
I tuned them out and looked down at the map.
'Are you sure of this, Taziel?'
"I'm not, my host," Taziel answered, projecting her image next to me, leaning down to look at the map, "I think the location is right still."
'That's not what I mean,' I told her silently, keeping my eyes on the map, 'Do you think we can take them?'
"If I didn't think so, I would never let you go," she answered as she turned to frown at me, "With the wizards and the Knight with us, and with Anduriel down to just Archleone and his family… it's the best change we would have for a long, long time. We might not be able to outright kill Anduriel at this time, but if we managed to take away Archleone from him, it would be the biggest victory against that fucker since the Rebellion. I'd like to kill him, but I'd settle for dropping his coin in the deepest darkest hole we can find for the next couple of thousand years."
"How are we getting there?" Murphy asked finally.
"I have transport," the Valkyrie standing next to her said, "But I have no way of finding the island, especially if it disrupts modern navigation like Dresden believes."
"I could navigate, my Host," Taziel said with a smile, "I'll find them."
"We can point the way," I said, looking over to Gard, "If you can get us there, I can guide us."
"What is the plan here exactly?" Murphy asked, "Going in guns blazing isn't much of a plan."
"That's exactly the plan," I said with a grin, "Shock and awe. If they didn't have a hostage we're trying to recover, I'd recommend an airstrike and turn the entire bloody island into a pile of rubble. I have no intention of fighting anyone in honorable combat if I can help it. But I'm thinking we hit them hard and fast and not give them time to recover. Think you two can nuke them?"
"If by nuke you mean evocation," Lucio said, "Then yes. Both Dresden and I are skilled evocators."
I nodded, "Well, that'll come in handy. How are we getting there?"
"Helicopter," Ward said before she looked to Dresden and Lucio, "Assuming you are able to ride in one without having it malfunction?"
Dresden looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded, "I have some ideas."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I looked out through the dark night through the forward window of the helicopter as the engine roared, propelling us through the night. Not sure where Gard got it, but I wasn't about to complain about it. As I, or rather Taziel, was navigating I was sitting in the copilot's seat while Gard was piloting it.
In the passenger compartment behind us was Mister Hendriks manning the very much illegal door mounted minigun. Dresden and Lucio were sitting next to each other by one of the seats, their right arms connected at the wrist with a pair of fancy thorned handcuffs. Something to keep their magic from disrupting the machinery of the helicopter. We really didn't want it to undergo unplanned rapid disassembly above the lake.
While I would survive it, I was fairly sure nobody else would.
The last person in the helicopter was Michael Carpenter in full on Holy Knight Paladin dressup.
With his Sword.
That Sword made Taziel intensely uncomfortable and I could feel it too. It was almost like standing next to a burning rod of glowing red iron, a kind of radiating heat from it.
Taziels eyes burned above mine, her symbol glowing on my forehead and she borrowed control of my right hand and mouth as she pointed a bit towards the left, "A bit further that way, Miss Gard."
Sanya and the rest of the group were in a boat down on the water, already heading out towards the island to reinforce us after the first assault.
Gard simply nodded and we shifted course slightly.
I closed my eyes, keeping my breathing smooth and deep.
There were three Denarians, three Fallen against us.
Nicodemius and Anduriel, mobility and close quarters combat while having high durability. Close to myself and Taziel actually but I bet I was better and tougher.
His daughter, Deirdre and Pasuriel. Close quarters expert and walking blender. She was dangerous if you got close, but not necessarily a threat with our backup.
Polonius Lartessa and her fallen Imariel. Witch and spellcaster and priority fucking target one.
Gank the geek in the dress first applied hard. Even, or perhaps especially, when we have our own magical backup for once.
She needed to go down and she needed to go down fast. Which considering that she was almost as difficult to kill as Nicky was a bit of a tall order, but I had some ideas.
"There," Taziel said, "The Island."
"I see it," Gard agreed and glanced back into the passenger compartment, "Get ready, five minutes! We're not doing any passes, I'm just going to drop you in the middle and go circling for targets!"
I nodded and opened my eyes as well, looking out into the darkness with my own eyes and not just Taziels. It was a dark shape cut against the darkness of the cloudy night.
I started to do a quick final check on my equipment. Grenades, submachine gun, pistol, sword hidden in the pocket dimension in my jacket.
I didn't bother with body armour this time around, it wouldn't help, just slow me down.
"Are you sure of this, my host?" Taziel whispered into my ear, "If we fail...if they defeat us..."
'If.'
- Location
- England
I was imagining him dragged along under the helicopter hanging from a rope in a harness.
- Location
- United states
Don't they have to worry about the techbane limitation on mortal magic users...?
- Location
- England
Er, yes? That's why the fancy magic suppressing handcuffs (actual story) or not being in the helicopter (my suggestion).
- Location
- Someone else's head
That was definitely what I was thinking too, though my host was less convinced.
Can anyone remind me why Gard isn't sporting any thorny fashion accessories? I thought she was a skilled spellcaster as well. Or does her connection with Odin somehow keep the techno-debilitation in control?
- Location
- Someone else's head
Large scale unintentional hexing is pretty much just a wizard thing. No one else tends to have the right combination of raw power and lack of instinctive tight control over it for it to be as much of a problem. Whatever the deal with her magic is, there's reason to believe that its origin is something other than naturally being a wizard-tier practitioner.
With the wizards and the Knight with us, and with Anduriel down to just Archleone and his family… it's the best chance we would have for a long, long time.
Stratagemini
Totally a Fire Ferret.
- Location
- Central Park
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
Classic Laconic wit, right there.
She's a Valkyrie not a mortal practitioner. Supernatural entities -- such as Fae and Gods and Dragons -- don't have that problem. There's no inherent contradiction between themselves and the world. Whereas mortal practitioners are split -- one foot in the mundane, one in the supernatural. It's that internal conflict that screws with regular reality around them. "Milk spoils around witches" is the older version of the tech-bane -- unusual physical manifestations of a mortal practitioner's status as partially supernatural.
It's notable in that the level of technology seems to vary on the wizard. Butcher never really nailed it down exactly, but the gist seems to be an individual's tech-bane is based on their age. So Dresden gets by with a car from the 60s (he first started spellcasting as a child in the 80s), but his much older mentor drives a Model-T -- he first started casting before the Great Depression. It also scales with the power of the practitioner, and reduces with their finesse. More power = more exploding tech, more finesse = less leakage of power, less exploding tech.
FWIW, Dresden also has a magical solution -- he's been on TV even. It just takes focus to rein in and compress his 'aura'. He probably could have done it for a helicopter ride, but given helicopters only fly because physics isn't paying attention, I wouldn't risk it either.
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- Location
- Oblivion
Now let's hope Demonreach doesn't object to your existence.
arisen gunman
American Monarchist
- Location
- united states
When Alexander demanded the Spartans submission they responded to all his letters with one word answers. The famous response was if.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
If a wizard's techbane aura is strong enough to no-sell a rope, they'd be magically powerful enough to one-shot Anduriel from thousands of miles away.
Gard isn't human, she's a Valkyrie. Techbane is strictly a human magic thing.
29
"Beepbeepbeepbeep-"
"What's that!?" Dresden yelled across the sound of the helicopter.
Gard pulled us into a hard turn, one hand on the rotor pitch as she threw us around, "Lock on warning!"
"They have a SAM!" I yelled to Dresden, staring out in the direction of the top of the island as the beeping of the warning system screamed through the cabin.
Where the fuck did these people get a Surface to Air Missile!? Even a MANPAD would be… of course. Ancient evil 'smart' mastermind with backing of hyper intelligent fallen angel.
On an island almost impossible to get to any way but air. Of course he had anti air weapons. I would after all.
A tiny little flash of light in the distance at the top of the dark mass of the island.
"SAM LAUNCH!" I yelled, "Wizards! Shield!"
Not waiting for an answer, I ignored Gard's yelp of surprise as I reached across the cabin and ripped her harness free only to grab hold of her armored vest and pulled her over into my lap before wrapping my wings around both of us, spreading my feathers as wide as they would go.
There were several long moments of screaming and then there was a world ending WHOMP. The helicopter jerked hard and things just went spinning for a moment.
We were falling.
Spreading my wings, I beat them hard as I dug my fingers into Gard's combat webbing, something hit my upper right wing and suddenly we were spinning.
Gard screamed and I lost grip with one hand.
Snarling, I struggled to gain control back as Taziel showed me the forest far below. Far below was coming up quickly.
Shit.
Too fast.
Gard was good though. As the forest came up on us quickly, she crossed her arms before her and straightened her legs like if she was in a parachute.
I managed to snag hold of her with my free hand and then I simply spread my wings to maximum, beating them a single more time as hard as I could.
We hit hard.
But that was the entire point. My wings crashed through leaves and thick branches as we hit the forest roof with all the grace of a brick through a window.
But it was enough to slow us down. Almost.
Gard did good. I let go just before we hit the ground and she turned most of her remaining momentum into a roll into a patch of thick brush.
I didn't.
Partly because I still had wings in the way, partly because I was landing right on top of a rotten stump.
But mostly because the branch logged halfway into my brain through my right eye.
I hit the ground hard, mostly seeing colours as my right arm moved on its own as I was trying to think. It grabbed something before my face and pulled.
There was a sucking motion from somewhere deep in my head for a second before my arm dropped again.
I gargled as feeling started to slowly return to the left side of my body, still trying to put any thoughts together.
"Saint! You alive?"
It didn't really mean anything to me, but my voice answered in equally nonsense noises, "We are, Valkyrie. My Host's brain is somewhat scrambled at the moment however, but I'm working on it. He'll be able to think again in a minute or so."
Colours.
Suddenly reality seemed to congeal around me again and things started to make sense. Coughing, I rolled up onto my elbow and started to curse in seven languages, only two of which were human.
'FUCK! I hate when something fucks with my brain!!'
'Then stop sticking things there.'
"Saint?"
"I'm gonna find whomever fired that thing and cut their kaztut off and stick it so far up their ravig that they schlutz when they swallow!" I snarled and struggled back up, folding my wings away as I scanned the dark forest, "The wizards?"
"Didn't see," Gard admitted, pulling a heavy pistol and checking that it's loaded, "You?"
"Was a bit busy," I growled and pulled my own pistol, "But we should check the wreck. If they survived, they should be there," I said and pointed towards flickering fire lighting up the clouds in a distance.
"We shou-"
Faint scraping of metal against tree bark from somewhere above and behind. I reacted instantly, throwing myself towards the right, whipping my gun up and firing as I did, Gard dove to the other side almost as quickly.
That was all that saved our lives from the storm of razor sharp metal strips flying down at us.
"What's that!?" Dresden yelled across the sound of the helicopter.
Gard pulled us into a hard turn, one hand on the rotor pitch as she threw us around, "Lock on warning!"
"They have a SAM!" I yelled to Dresden, staring out in the direction of the top of the island as the beeping of the warning system screamed through the cabin.
Where the fuck did these people get a Surface to Air Missile!? Even a MANPAD would be… of course. Ancient evil 'smart' mastermind with backing of hyper intelligent fallen angel.
On an island almost impossible to get to any way but air. Of course he had anti air weapons. I would after all.
A tiny little flash of light in the distance at the top of the dark mass of the island.
"SAM LAUNCH!" I yelled, "Wizards! Shield!"
Not waiting for an answer, I ignored Gard's yelp of surprise as I reached across the cabin and ripped her harness free only to grab hold of her armored vest and pulled her over into my lap before wrapping my wings around both of us, spreading my feathers as wide as they would go.
There were several long moments of screaming and then there was a world ending WHOMP. The helicopter jerked hard and things just went spinning for a moment.
We were falling.
Spreading my wings, I beat them hard as I dug my fingers into Gard's combat webbing, something hit my upper right wing and suddenly we were spinning.
Gard screamed and I lost grip with one hand.
Snarling, I struggled to gain control back as Taziel showed me the forest far below. Far below was coming up quickly.
Shit.
Too fast.
Gard was good though. As the forest came up on us quickly, she crossed her arms before her and straightened her legs like if she was in a parachute.
I managed to snag hold of her with my free hand and then I simply spread my wings to maximum, beating them a single more time as hard as I could.
We hit hard.
But that was the entire point. My wings crashed through leaves and thick branches as we hit the forest roof with all the grace of a brick through a window.
But it was enough to slow us down. Almost.
Gard did good. I let go just before we hit the ground and she turned most of her remaining momentum into a roll into a patch of thick brush.
I didn't.
Partly because I still had wings in the way, partly because I was landing right on top of a rotten stump.
But mostly because the branch logged halfway into my brain through my right eye.
I hit the ground hard, mostly seeing colours as my right arm moved on its own as I was trying to think. It grabbed something before my face and pulled.
There was a sucking motion from somewhere deep in my head for a second before my arm dropped again.
I gargled as feeling started to slowly return to the left side of my body, still trying to put any thoughts together.
"Saint! You alive?"
It didn't really mean anything to me, but my voice answered in equally nonsense noises, "We are, Valkyrie. My Host's brain is somewhat scrambled at the moment however, but I'm working on it. He'll be able to think again in a minute or so."
Colours.
Suddenly reality seemed to congeal around me again and things started to make sense. Coughing, I rolled up onto my elbow and started to curse in seven languages, only two of which were human.
'FUCK! I hate when something fucks with my brain!!'
'Then stop sticking things there.'
"Saint?"
"I'm gonna find whomever fired that thing and cut their kaztut off and stick it so far up their ravig that they schlutz when they swallow!" I snarled and struggled back up, folding my wings away as I scanned the dark forest, "The wizards?"
"Didn't see," Gard admitted, pulling a heavy pistol and checking that it's loaded, "You?"
"Was a bit busy," I growled and pulled my own pistol, "But we should check the wreck. If they survived, they should be there," I said and pointed towards flickering fire lighting up the clouds in a distance.
"We shou-"
Faint scraping of metal against tree bark from somewhere above and behind. I reacted instantly, throwing myself towards the right, whipping my gun up and firing as I did, Gard dove to the other side almost as quickly.
That was all that saved our lives from the storm of razor sharp metal strips flying down at us.
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- Location
- Oblivion
Well, I guess we know why the forces of the White God wanted her in Dresden so much.
Her constant rule breaking basically feeds them an unending stream of counter moves to use against Lucifer and the forces of hell.
In concerns to this one in particular, it's going to be interesting to see who the forces of the White God heal from a mortal wound in return.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
That's not how it works, Vaermina. The rule isn't against the Fallen doing magic, it's against them contravening the free will of a mortal. It is strongly implied that Saint has given Taziel permission to heal his injuries without asking first, which makes it fair game. Just like how Ursiel is able to turn his host into a bear monster without asking, because he's bullied the host into giving him permission to do that.
Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
Good thing you can heal indeed....
Wonder what the limits are?
Cause if you aren't careful you might become the designated human shield
Wonder what the limits are?
Cause if you aren't careful you might become the designated human shield
Presumably, beheading or sufficient loss of body mass
- Location
- Christchurch, NZ
Yeah, once you start getting into brain mulching, "alive" and "dead" start becoming extremely nominal. Good on them, though, any immortality that can't handle a bullet to the head is not worth the time it takes to monologue about how nobody can stop you now...
Also mark down another helicopter crash. Those things are nothing but expensive suicide booths. Should have used jetskis.
Also mark down another helicopter crash. Those things are nothing but expensive suicide booths. Should have used jetskis.