The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
In defense of the WC
Ed0517:
--- Quote from: g33k on December 25, 2022, 06:24:35 AM ---
I think it remains to be seen how formidable they remain; the modern White Council may be a bit of a Paper Tiger. A few formidable members, like Eb & most of the Senior Council, many of the Wardens, a few others... But (particularly with the influx of very-young & inexperienced Wardens) the overall combat fitness of the WC is surely reduced in the post-VampWar era! Certainly there are many WC wizards who are little to no use in combat, nor even much use for logistics/support.
--- End quote ---
Their numbers are down after their wars. They are likely not as strong as they once were. But consider the survivors now are blooded veterans. The young wardens who survived the wars are now considerably more dangerous per man than before, and many of their opponents have also been weakened. The Blamps have never recovered from Dracula - sure, the survivors are the stronger deadlier ones... but so few. The Ramps are GONE. The Whites lost a number of high ranks in the Deeps, and they do not infect, they breed, and Lara is even less an open warfare type than most. The Fomor were hurt in the battle of Chicago - with few wizards involved, their big gun taken away. And trying to take out a noncombatant former KOTC might draw attention. Plus... the surface powers that be will now know more about them. Who isn;t damaged? Outsiders? The WC was not going to be such a deterrent to them already
Mira:
--- Quote from: Ed0517 on December 27, 2022, 08:25:45 AM ---Their numbers are down after their wars. They are likely not as strong as they once were. But consider the survivors now are blooded veterans. The young wardens who survived the wars are now considerably more dangerous per man than before, and many of their opponents have also been weakened. The Blamps have never recovered from Dracula - sure, the survivors are the stronger deadlier ones... but so few. The Ramps are GONE. The Whites lost a number of high ranks in the Deeps, and they do not infect, they breed, and Lara is even less an open warfare type than most. The Fomor were hurt in the battle of Chicago - with few wizards involved, their big gun taken away. And trying to take out a noncombatant former KOTC might draw attention. Plus... the surface powers that be will now know more about them. Who isn;t damaged? Outsiders? The WC was not going to be such a deterrent to them already
--- End quote ---
They might be fewer than they were, but I wouldn't want to screw with them.
g33k:
--- Quote from: Ed0517 on December 27, 2022, 08:25:45 AM ---Their numbers are down after their wars. They are likely not as strong as they once were. But consider the survivors now are blooded veterans. The young wardens who survived the wars are now considerably more dangerous per man than before, and many of their opponents have also been weakened. The Blamps have never recovered from Dracula - sure, the survivors are the stronger deadlier ones... but so few. The Ramps are GONE. The Whites lost a number of high ranks in the Deeps, and they do not infect, they breed, and Lara is even less an open warfare type than most. The Fomor were hurt in the battle of Chicago - with few wizards involved, their big gun taken away. And trying to take out a noncombatant former KOTC might draw attention. Plus... the surface powers that be will now know more about them. Who isn;t damaged? Outsiders? The WC was not going to be such a deterrent to them already
--- End quote ---
Arguably, MOST of the major players are all in the same state: reduced in numbers, but most having each-one-much-more-dangerous survivors.
But the White Council, in particular, may be "shakier" than most of the others.
#1 -
Until the Vamp-War, I don't think they had any substantive conflicts with most of the other major powers. There was the fight with Kemmler, but (from others' POV) that may have looked a lot like a mortal-wizard-vs-mortal-wizard fight. One of the recurring elements of the novels is that people keep referring to the White Council as "doddering old fools," perhaps a once-mighty tree but now weak & aged & ready to fall. I don't doubt that it's stronger than those outside POV's think... but I also think that when multiple predators are calling out a weakness, it's likely real. Nobody really knows just how dangerous the White Council is (or isn't), I think; not even the White Council itself !
#2 - Most of the dangerous monsters are... well, dangerous. The same is not nearly so true for wizards. Many of them have little to offer a war-effort. Combat powers aren't the most common suite of aptitudes, and even logistical-support wizards aren't dime-a-dozen. But those are mostly who the fights have been taking: the fighters, and the supply-lines. Leaving behind mostly noncombatant wizards, ill-suited to fight whampires and blampires and fomor and warlocks &c...
#3 - The WC is like the Whamps: "they don't infect, they breed." Furthermore, the little proto-wizards then need extensive training; without it, they're at least as much a danger to themselves and their allies, as they are to any foes (and the combat-wizards being teachers aren't on the front lines being soldiers). Compare a whampire: they can get basic combat training (hand-to-hand, blades, guns) in their pre-teen years (from mortals!), but when they do the 1st-kill-whampout, they *instantly* become vastly more-dangerous, with even ordinary whamps gaining speed and strength to beat most professional soldiers, plus their whamp-whammy powers.
Ed0517:
--- Quote from: Mira on December 27, 2022, 03:57:08 PM ---They might be fewer than they were, but I wouldn't want to screw with them.
--- End quote ---
They are fewer in the same way an antelope herd that just got chased by lions is fewer - there had been 100, and averaged 30 mph. Now they are 75, but average speed is 33 mph. Fewer, but the average antelope is faster than the average before
g33k:
--- Quote from: Ed0517 on December 29, 2022, 03:13:39 AM --- They are fewer in the same way an antelope herd that just got chased by lions is fewer - there had been 100, and averaged 30 mph. Now they are 75, but average speed is 33 mph. Fewer, but the average antelope is faster than the average before
--- End quote ---
That's when you just look at the Wardens.
When you look at the White Council as a whole, it's weaker, because the combat types suffered the bulk of the casualties, leaving the more-delicate / less-survivable noncombatant (*) wizards largely unimpacted.
(*) Note that I include the logistics/support & healing wizards among the "combat types" as they increase the White Council's combat ability... and suffered for it, during the Ramp war! The White Council's ability to wage war is substantially degraded.
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