Hopefully Jim will do this- make Thomas a sparkly vampire.

LOL - Sacrilege!

After reading the latest short story featuring Luccio in Dodge City (A Fistful of Warlocks), I started thinking about Anastasia Luccio and other White Council members personal perspectives versus that of Harry's.  So Anastasia was born in the late 18th or early 19th Century.  Let's say she joins the White Council around 1830 or a little before that.  After a few years she is introduced to older members of Council, perhaps even a Senior Council member or two.  Consider that with the possible exception of Ancient Mai, every other SC member is from an older generation than the members we see today. 

Now stop and think about your own life and stories you heard as a child from either your grandparents or other relatives who where older than your mother or father or maybe even from a next door neighbor who was around the same age as your grandparents.  Think particularly about those stories about what life was like when they were children.  So the living memory of other people you have been exposed to may go back sixty or seventy years before you were born, occasionally more if you had any particularly long lived family members who told you a story or two that really impressed you.  I'll give you an example from my life.  When I was a child; maybe eight or nine, my family went to a wedding in New Mexico, I think near Silver City.  I grew up near Los Angeles, CA so this was something unusual.  Before the wedding my mother met with some of her cousins.  One of them showed my mother an photo album with pictures of people, none of whom I knew, though my mom recognized several.  There was one very old picture; think Teddy Roosevelt era, of a young man that my mom asked about.  I think the only reason she asked was because the photo was so old.  Her cousin identified this man as a great uncle on her father's side, someone she had never met, but a person her grandfather had talked about a great deal.  He had been a soldier during the First World War and had died in his mid to late 20's, during the 1920's, but it had been the war that had killed him.  She told us that he had been a victim of a poison gas attack and he never really recovered from it, it slowly destroyed his lungs over time.  It was a horrifying story and the person who told it hadn't actually witnessed it, but the story her grandfather told her made an impression on her and later on me.  That's one small example of living memory being passed down from one generation to another, actually several generations.

Think about the people Anastasia met when she became a Warden or even earlier than that.  Some of the older European Council members she met not only had lived during the time of witch burnings in Europe, they may have witnessed someone being burned at the stake. (The Witchcraft Act of 1735 in Great Britain made in illegal to claim someone had magical powers or was a witch.  Though witch hunts continued sporadically for sometime after that in other places.)  It's one thing to read about something like this in a book, now imagine having a friend, colleague or family member who could describe to you the crowd of onlookers, the executioner and the victim or victims.  Then imagine this living witness telling you about the sound of the crowd made and the crackling of the fire, the screams of the victim(s), the smell of burning flesh and the feeling of pure fear that you could be next.

Harry has an academic appreciation that wizards were once burned as witches.  Luccio, Ebenezer, Arthur Langtry and other older members of the White Council didn't experience this directly, but they knew people who did.  I think this explains; at least partially, why Council members are disturbed by Harry's openness to openly proclaim himself a wizard; and some of his other more flippant behavior, even if most of society thinks that he is a crackpot.     

 

This dossier needs a new entry: 

After remaining in seclusion for over a year, it has been reported that Queen Mab loaned out the services of her Knight to one Nicodemus Archleone; the reputed leader of the Order of the Blackened Denarius.  Together with a crew that contained several other Denarians, assorted mercenaries; and if it can be believed, a Knight of the Cross, Nicodemus and Harry Dresden led a break-in into the vault of Hades.  Yes, the Greek god of the underworld Hades.  It is not known what was taken from Hades vault, but the Denarians with Nicodemus were are all killed.  Witnesses who wish to remain anonymous have stated that Nicodemus broke his agreement with Mab to remain at truce with her Knight while they were in Hades vault.  They further testify that Harry Dresden personally killed two of the Denarians and drove Nicodemus off.  It is not known if necromantic methods were needed to escape from Hades realm.     

After the affair ended, we received reports that there is a new Knight of the Cross and though we don't know the circumstances of how this person came to wield one of the Swords, it has been stated that Harry Dresden was somehow instrumental in this individual becoming a Knight.  We are also hearing fantastic stories about this Knight's particular sword, but we can put these down to hysterical witnesses exaggerating the brightness of these swords which without exaggeration are quite extraordinary.

Finally, we heard that Warden Dresden met with Mab and Baron John Marcone; who is a known Dresden associate, though we don't know what matters they discussed.  The new Winter Lady; Dresden's former apprentice, was seen leaving the meeting though no one saw her enter the building where the meeting was held.  In any case, with the addition of this new Knight, Baron Marcone's continued support and the presumed loyalty of the new Winter Lady, the list of Harry Dresden's allies continues to grow.  We cannot ascertain his ultimate purpose, but it now seems certain that Harry Dresden is establishing his own power base for reasons known only to him.  We must be prepared for any eventuality.  For now we advise bringing Warden Dresden back into the fold by involving him in the security arrangements for the upcoming peace talks to be held in Chicago, with the idea of keeping our friends close and enemies closer.   

I like the OP, but it doesn't ask or attempt to answer what the Black Council; for lack of a better term, was trying to do by attacking Mab's home or why Mab put all her troops on Summer's border which made it impossible for either Summer or Winter to attack the Red Court.  We know what the effect was, not why she did it.  My guess is Mab was paying off a debt, not completing a deal she was forced to make.  I mean Jim made it very clear that Mab didn't lose the battle at Arctis Tor so it seems unlikely she was forced into a deal not to attack the Red Court.  I think Mab's tirade at the end of Small Favor about paying off all her debts was partly referring to a debt she had paid off by not attacking the Red Court after they crossed into Sidhe territory back in Dead Beat, as well as about paying back Nicodemus for breaking her accords. 

Another way to better understand the windlass is to compare the idea of the windlass on sailing ship with that of an airship.  On a sailing ship the windlass was a large wheel with spokes attached.  The windless was typically attached to the ship's anchor chains or anchor rope.  Men would line up along the spokes and push against them to raise the ship's anchor from sea floor.  The windlass could be attached to other things by rope in order to lift them aboard ship or to move them in order to be repaired or replaced, like cannons, ships spars or cargo, but it's most common use was on the anchor.  No matter how it was used it was definitely drudge work done by common sailors and not as exiting as actually sailing the ship.

So an aeronaut's  windlass just moves the airship up or down, but it's still drudge work, and again rather boring work.   

If the blade is the point of the Spear of Longinus, I understand why some of us are thinking about Harry turning his staff into a spear, but what about the other artifacts?  Does anyone have any ideas about how the Shroud, the Crown of Thorns or the sign with INRI could be used as weapons by Harry?  (I assume Nicodemus will try to use the Grail to power some kind of curse.) 

Harry said he would research the items.  Has anyone done any research on the any of the other items?  The Shroud seem less like a weapon then something you would use to bring back a fallen comrade.  (Of course there will be catch to using it.  Probably Harry will only be able to use it once and he will be forced to decide between Murphy and someone else, someone more vital to defeating the Outsiders.)  The Crown of Thorns may have different symbolic meanings, but I'm not seeing how it could be a weapon and I have no idea about the sign.   

Here's a link to a short video of Jim being interviewed by Patrick Rothfuss at C2E2 in Chicago a few days ago.  They talk about Cinder Spires, RPG'S and video games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KmNA2EZbg8