The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
Questions for Mab
g33k:
--- Quote from: Mira on April 13, 2025, 06:03:08 PM --- I think Harry will have come into some more money by now to his sorrow. Murphy may have left her worldly goods to him in her Will, which also included at least one sock full of diamonds...
--- End quote ---
ROFL!
I now imagine a small heavy box left for Harry, labeled "gotcha!"
Talby16:
--- Quote from: g33k on March 12, 2025, 03:10:26 PM ---Yeah, this.
Harry gets everything he bargained for there under the stars, at the Stone Table.
Everything.
And not a single bit more.
(except a tiny bit here or there, as he manages to leverage new points by virtue of being the Winter Knight and having understanding of Faerie Law and Winter Law (e.g. Mab was annoyed with him for summoning her to Judgement in Talvi Inverno's office, but it was a correct use of Winter Law by the Winter Knight; so she was compelled to do it). salary is nowhere in this. )
--- End quote ---
Harry has a history of not being complete with his bargains (ie the Magic Feather with Lea). Granted, he is under pressure most of the time when he makes bargains. He got everything he asked for at the Stone Table. He was already planning on weaseling out of it so he did not take the time to find out more about what the job entails or the resources he could use to do the job. He could have asked for more.
--- Quote from: LordDresden2 on March 15, 2025, 06:31:05 AM ---I'm pretty sure the Author has no wish to do so.
Money is power. If Harry has access to lots of cash on a regular basis, his life gets easier, his options more extensive, it gets harder to wrap him in plot difficulties.
Remember back in Turn Coat: Harry was hiding Morgan from the Council and almost everyone else, but he had only a handful of places he could use. Luckily for him, most of the people hunting him were used to having lots of resources and didn't fully grasp how limited Harry's options were.
Binder did get it, and he actually said at one point "Money never gets it." Binder is working class background and he understood exactly why Harry was doing things they way he did them.
--- End quote ---
There is a WOJ about how much Harry can do and how much equipment he can maintain given his time and financial constraints. That is one of the things that keeps him a medium sized fish in the pond who occasionally gets a lucky shot in against the bigger fish. If you give him unlimited resources that will allow him to level up to quickly which is at odds with who he is and his growth up to this point. I give it 50/50 odds that if he had access to that much money he would just blow it all on worthy causes instead of using it for himself.
--- Quote from: Mira on April 13, 2025, 06:03:08 PM --- I think Harry will have come into some more money by now to his sorrow. Murphy may have left her worldly goods to him in her Will, which also included at least one sock full of diamonds. This might also be one of Mab's motives for the union between Harry and Lara, she has enough money for the two of them.
--- End quote ---
I believe that motive to be really far down on the list. If Mab wanted Harry to have money she would just give him money. There is no need to be that circumspect when resources are not a problem for Mab.
Mira:
--- Quote ---I believe that motive to be really far down on the list. If Mab wanted Harry to have money she would just give him money. There is no need to be that circumspect when resources are not a problem for Mab.
--- End quote ---
Agreed, unless there is a rule against the Winter Knight getting a salary from his Queen. Remember before the battle, Molly was buying a house close to her parents to further protect them and she loaned Harry her old place because he was homeless. I seem to remember that there was a rule against him being paid, because Mab could have given him money then and didn't. Unless Harry just doesn't want to be in Mab's debt anymore than he has to be so refuses a salary.
Talby16:
--- Quote from: Mira on May 01, 2025, 12:57:45 PM ---Agreed, unless there is a rule against the Winter Knight getting a salary from his Queen. Remember before the battle, Molly was buying a house close to her parents to further protect them and she loaned Harry her old place because he was homeless. I seem to remember that there was a rule against him being paid, because Mab could have given him money then and didn't. Unless Harry just doesn't want to be in Mab's debt anymore than he has to be so refuses a salary.
--- End quote ---
I could see Harry being leery of getting anything from Mab and going further into debt. I could also see Mab having the viewpoint of the Knight being disposable and thus not worth any extra resources.
g33k:
--- Quote from: Mira on May 01, 2025, 12:57:45 PM ---Agreed, unless there is a rule against the Winter Knight getting a salary from his Queen
... I seem to remember that there was a rule against him being paid, because Mab could have given him money then and didn't. Unless Harry just doesn't want to be in Mab's debt anymore than he has to be so refuses a salary.
--- End quote ---
I don't think there's any "rule against" salary, no.
If Harry had included a cash stipend in his negotiation, I don't think Mab would have blinked or balked.
But there is now a rule against Harry being paid: he didn't bargain for it... and Mab fulfills her bargains with surgical precision, and zero charity.
--- Quote from: Mira on May 01, 2025, 12:57:45 PM --- ... Remember before the battle, Molly was buying a house close to her parents to further protect them and she loaned Harry her old place because he was homeless ...
--- End quote ---
I think Harry is morally/philosophically opposed to leveraging his power too-directly for wealth; it's a really easy line to cross, with a huge morally-grey area.
I suspect this is a too-strict interpretation of the anti-warlock values that Ebenezer instilled.
Molly has no such inhibitions. She owns a luxurious condo in an ultra-secure enclave, paid for with magical service.
I don't doubt she has used her waywalking & veils & so forth to make her own wealth, independent of the Winter Court.
Like... in her "Ragged Lady" phase, she likely learned a bunch about the criminal underworld of Chicago. Returning to it as the Winter Lady, she could just walk into a drug-deal under a Veil, put everyone to sleep, and walk out with all the cash; or something similar in other places, where she doesn't bump against Marcone (but I suspect that during the Fomor build-up, his hold over all those street-deals was much weaker: killing one of those non-Marcone deals might actually put Marcone in Molly's debt!).
Or just use a Way to courier some high-value deliveries with unmatchable-by-mundanes speed & security.
Or Veil into some top-tier business negotiations, and leverage that knowledge in the stock market.
etc etc etc.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version