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DF Spoilers / Re: Turncoat
« on: May 19, 2025, 12:34:11 PM »Quote
I agree, if they came into contact with the ink they were impacted to some degree. That degree depends on how much contact they had with the ink (ie how often they were at headquarters and signing paper work) and how susceptible they were to the inks influence (age and mental defenses).
Senior Council, they are intimately involved with governing the White Council, so yeah, lots of contact with Peabody's ink.. And don't discount nudges, especially when the person who is being affected has no clue that he or she is being nudged in one direction or another... Timing in attacks during wartime is one example, a couple of hours one way or the other could be the difference between success and disaster... Or kind of like driving a car after drinking, you don't have to be drunk to a danger on the road. You are not drunk, not even remotely, but your reaction time is slowed, normally wouldn't affect your driving, but if something happens and you are even a split second too slow to react...
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When Listens-to Winds had that reaction, he had just found out during the trial that Peabody had been influencing the wizards through his ink. That was an honest reaction of shock at the news. No investigation had been made into what exactly the ink was and what it could do yet. At that point, his medical and scientific knowledge was useless because he just found out about it and had not examined the ink for himself. It wasn't until after Peabody had been killed, the mistfiend contained, and the injured treated that the Merlin and Injun Joe examined the ink and the influenced wizards fully to see what the effect was. Harry detailed this on page 518 while he was in the infirmary recovering before he talked to the Gatekeeper (the paragraph preceding the second book quote above). For all Listens to Winds knew at the time of the reveal, the effect on the Senior Council could have been quite serious. However, it was after his and Merlin's investigation that Harry made the influence in subtle ways reference to the Senior Council and Eb shared the third quote about the Senior Council only being nudged not bent.or...
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Official testimony from Eb at the trial, page 386 bolding and italics mine...
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"Working on the evidence Dresden found." Ebenezar said, "Warden Ramiez and I searched Peabody's chambers thoroughly not twenty minutes ago. A test of inks he used to attain the signatures of the Senior Council for various authorizations revealed the presence of a number of chemical and alchemical substances that are known to have been used to assist psychic manipulation of their subjects. It is my belief that Peabody has been drugging the ink for the purpose of attempting greater mental influence over the decisions of the members of the Senior Council, and that it is entirely possible that he has compromised the free will of younger members of the Council outright."
Listens-to-Wind's mouth opened in sudden surprise and understanding. He looked at his ink-stained fingertips, and then up at Peabody.
Was it useless? He had just listened to Eb's testimony as to what was in the ink.. Listen's-to-Wind has enough knowledge of chemistry to understand perfectly well what Eb was saying they found.. He didn't need to do his own analysis.
Yes, while the body change made Luccio more susceptible, it still was the ink, wasn't it? That's my point.
Another point, and the real damage of Peabody's subtle nudges, " A new age of White Council paranoia had begun. "
What happened after the battle for Chicago is a perfect example of that.