The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
Barbara Books Q&A
BrainFireBob:
Whereas if he powers up to do it himself he doesn't have any powerful loose cannon rivals to worry about.
Context matters.
The Fae can't say "White is black" in general. I assume they can, when discussing music, say "White is black," because Barry White is black.
The limits on the concept are fascinating.
Fae: "Ask me my favorite fruit, this is a command."
Fae servant: "What is your favorite fruit?"
Fae: "In due time."
Fae enemy: "What is the password?"
Fae*makes eye contact with servant* "It is banana"
vultur:
--- Quote from: BrainFireBob on September 30, 2020, 09:52:30 PM ---There's near-infinite wiggle room in even the most straightforward request because of definition flexibility.
--- End quote ---
Well, I wasn't writing it out the way I would expect Kemmler to actually word it, because a) that would be tedious, and b) the exact way to word it correctly would be dependent on the specific circumstances and likely the Nature of the specific being chosen.
But it would be something more like requiring that being to "kill [insert names of Senior Council members, senior Wardens, Blackstaff, etc. at that time], in such a way that no Einherjar, shades, ghosts, or other remnants deriving from them remain able to impede my actions; destroy the wards protecting the Hidden Halls of Edinburgh and kill all who are within them at the time you do so; complete these tasks as soon as is possible by using your utmost abilities; and do not harm, confine, or imprison me, in any way, mentally, physically, or spiritually, or act to limit or impede my actions."
There's probably some wiggle room left in this, but I'd expect Kemmler to spend serious time on this, not just 5 minutes, and use specific knowledge of the being/situation. And with Kemmler's knowledge, probably do it in Latin, which is likely less friendly to grammatical ambiguity.
BrainFireBob:
Fails the thermonuclear war/comet hits Edinborough/deadly plague that only affects wizards criteria.
Kemmler's in no way restricted by these things. Unless he doesn't want to die. Then he might restrict himself.
EDIT: I covered Latin in college. There's plenty of room for ambiguity.
Conspiracy Theorist:
Or “you are White Council”, BLAM!
vultur:
--- Quote from: Conspiracy Theorist on September 30, 2020, 10:16:29 PM ---Or “you are White Council”, BLAM!
--- End quote ---
Thus naming specific people rather than saying "the White Council", and also including "do not harm me in any way".
--- Quote from: BrainFireBob on September 30, 2020, 10:14:37 PM ---Fails the thermonuclear war/comet hits Edinborough/deadly plague that only affects wizards criteria.
--- End quote ---
I think my "do not harm me in any way" criterion would exclude doing those things in a way that Kemmler would be directly killed by it (in the fireball of the nukes/comet for example). Secondary effects, maybe, but I don't think those would be a real threat to someone like Kemmler once they were aware of them.
So probably actually an entirely acceptable outcome for Kemmler.
--- Quote from: BrainFireBob on September 30, 2020, 10:00:27 PM ---Fae: "Ask me my favorite fruit, this is a command."
Fae servant: "What is your favorite fruit?"
Fae: "In due time."
Fae enemy: "What is the password?"
Fae*makes eye contact with servant* "It is banana"
--- End quote ---
Right, but this sort of trick only works against people who either aren't aware of how it works or don't really think it through. Which anyone on the White Council ought to be capable of; it really should be fairly basic magical education.
Any statement like that which relies on an assumed antecedent of a pronoun just can't be trusted. Now if the Fae said, "the password to [this specific thing] is banana", that would be reliable (I think the present tense 'is' means you wouldn't even have to specify 'at this time' or 'the current password').
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