Firstly, what an exciting new book Twelve Months is! Great to have some new Dresden in the world, and having Jim in action again.


In Twelve Months, we learned the origin of the White Court of Vampires (or Wamps). We learned that in ancient days there were powerful sorcerer-kings who were effectively demigods (hints of this in the Dresden Files RPG).

One sorcerer-king of Etruria called Laris of Arretium, and a cabal of his peers, summoned an Outsider. A mad god. The Hunger.

They were not powerful enough to properly contain it, and just by being in the city it spread its madness to the citizens, causing them to consume everything and themselves in boundless hunger and hedonism. The other sorcerer-kings hid in the citadels, leaving Laris and his daughter, Thana, alone to deal with the Outsider.

Laris and his daughter realised they were not strong enough to banish the Outsider, but they knew a spell “for binding immortal beings indelibly with mortals”. Their plan was to trap the Outsider to a mortal shell that would inevitably wither into death, taking the Hunger with it.

This did not go well. They successfully performed the spell and bound the Hunger to Laris, but the Hunger then possessed him. It did terrible things to Thana, before she somehow was able to turn the tables and bind Laris in chains for the rest of his life. The Hunger had sired a child on her, the first White Court Vampire - Sethre.

My hypothesis is that all the Vampire Courts started this way - powerful sorcerer-kings who summoned Outsiders and ended up possessed by them. This seems very likely given the connections the Vampire Courts have always seemed to have with Outsiders.

The Elders of the Red Court, their highest nobles, were more than merely ancient vampires. They called themselves the Lords of the Outer Night. Given that Outer Night and Outsider are equivalent terms (you only have to read D&D 1st Ed, some Roger Zelazny, and a few other source materials Jim has said he was inspired by to see the common interchange of both terms) and given that when speaking to Thomas’ Hunger, we learned (or confirmed, given how obvious it was) that Empty Night was the ultimate destruction of reality back into the Outside, I think we can see that Outer Night and Outside are very clearly one-and-the-same.

All Vampires seem to feed on life force via one medium or another, such as through blood or from aura or qi/chi. Something that has become more clear is that life-force and souls are very intertwined. I think it’s no accident the Vampires feed on life-force, on what is partial soul energy. That’s what they don’t and can’t have, a soul. No wonder they want it. It’s the stuff of leftover Creation.

Beyond that, the Vampires also all have powerful mind-magic. The Red Court has mind-magic (hypnosis-adjacent). As do the Black Court (mind control) and I suspect so does the Jade Court (unknown). And, as do the White Court although it is more about creating psychic dependency than hypnosis like the Reds or the straight-up brutal mind control of the Blamps. The point here is that one thing all Outsiders seem to use is mind magic, and it’s very powerful. I think this is no accident - I think it’s all about abrogating Free Will. That stops mortals making Choices, which stops them creating more of the multiverse, which expands into the endless Outside. I can see why they would want to stop that.

Another connection is that we have seen both the Red Court and White Court summon, or be linked to, summoned Outsider demons. The Reds used them in the war against the White Council. The White Court summoned He Who Walks Behind, and possibly others. It’s hinted that Lord Raith may well have summoned more Outsiders in the past, given his extensive library. Now, we know mortal magic is required to summon an Outsider. But, I think it is no accident that the Outsiders that were summoned didn’t attack the Red Court or the White Court. Something to think about.

Now, on the origins of Vampires, I think it is entirely possible the Red King was once a sorcerer-king himself, or more likely the child of one - just like Sethre (the first Whampire). The Red King and the Lords of the Outer Night all have the same straight-up Will attack that gods, Titans and other similarly powerful beings use - Vadderung, Ferrovax, Mother Winter, and of course - Drakul.

I think Drakul, however, is something more. Drakul is stated to be by Jim as “something entirely unhuman that got trapped in human form”. What does that sound like?

It sounds exactly like the original Outsider, the Hunger, that gets bound (trapped) by Laris and his daughter Thana, in Laris’ body.

But something much stronger even. Because the point of Laris’ spell was to trap the Hunger in a mortal shell, where the shell would eventually wither and die.

My guess is that there was a sorcerer-king in ancient times long before Laris - maybe at the dawn of human history (let’s just say 8,000 BCE) - who also was a starborn.

This sorcerer-king starborn summoned an Outsider of formidable power, stronger perhaps than the Hunger that Laris summoned. But because this sorcerer king was also a starborn, he was able to bind the thing and actually control it and become immortal, unlike Laris, who just ended up possessed yet still mortal.

Thus, Drakul was born. I highly suspect that was not his original name, just the name he currently uses - Jim has said he has had many identities throughout human history, just like Vadderung.

Drakul created Black Court vampires long before he had his son, Dracula. My guess is that Dracula was the same as Sethre, an experiment. Born of Drakul and a mortal woman. This tracks with Dracula being very powerful and having enormous paternal issues, and yet also resenting his father too.

From what we have seen of Drakul, he only respects the strong (both in mind and body), the survivors. Dracula perhaps wasn’t a great survivor. Perhaps in an effort to impress and/or perhaps also build his own power enough to challenge his father, he created the Black Court. What had existed before was probably Black Court vampires who were divided, scattered, only the strongest and wiliest sticking with Drakul. The rest hid, or set up their own shops, and/or likely died.

Dracula probably gave them a sense of order akin to the White Court or Red Court, a structure with nobles and leaders etc. I can see why Drakul may have been unimpressed. For all its power, I suspect that Drakul thought it provided too much support for those too weak to stand alone. Likely he knew of the regular Blamp weaknesses, and he probably was even more unimpressed by Dracula getting killed by Harkness. That’s not survival, that’s weak, as far as Drakul is concerned.

I have long held the idea that the Vampires are all connected to the Outsiders. I think I have laid out my case reasonably well, but I’ll see what you all think.

Enjoy. Have at it. Let me know what you think.

Consider the phrase "power has purpose".

I think given the level that Mother Winter exists on i.e. there is only one Mother Winter in all the multiverse, and she ranks around the same level as Archangels and Greater Gods (to use the old D&D scale), I would say that much of what she does is at an environmental level. For example, the fact that entropy and fear and savagery exist in all these many universes. She is powering all of that. Or perhaps not simply powering, but a result of that. If you really think about it, what she is "doing" is constantly shown. Harry just isn't looking that deeply. She is the "Unmaker" after all.

I bet she has chosen a Knight, although I don't believe Jim has ever hinted at it. But probably the most savage and psychotic Winter Knights were probably hers.

To number three, I think the answer is more complicated. The whole bit in Cold Days where she and Mother Summer argue about who's weapon Harry is, and who's world it is etc. Yes, I think Harry is her weapon in that he is an agent of destruction. Whether she was more directly involved in the Star Born part is harder to know - although given that a large part of her purpose is to fight Outsiders (or provide the multiverse with the power to do so, in the form of the many Winter Courts) - I would say it's highly likely.

To me, the likely conclusion is that Ebenezer is omitting important information in that statement.

The "why" seems pretty important here.

For example, it could be that Starborn are immune to mind corruption from the outsiders because they themselves are part-Outsider.

Which might explain the White Council's aggression towards Harry over the years etc.

But that's just one theory.

I also think that given that WoJ is that being a Starborn is very "unlucky" and something most don't want to be...I doubt it's just resistance/immunity to Outsider mind taint.

Also, it would appear that while tens of thousands of more Starborn are made during the Event (it might be that you literally must be exposed to star light during that time), most apparently are killed off very quickly. harry is one of the few of his iteration, apparently.

Firstly, its been a while since I have posted so it's good to be back.

Secondly, great to see some more information coming from Jim! While Twelve Months is unlikely to be published this year, I am hopeful that we might get it as early as next year.

Now, to the information from Dragon Con.

Drakul
"He found Kemmler funny". Which should tell us all we need to know about how evil Drakul is, right there. If Mab thought Kemmler was insane, it really shows how dark Drakul must be.

"Kemmler spoiled some of his [Drakul's] plans but nothing serious...he [Drakul] found all the murder funny". Given how much impact Kemmler has had on things e.g. the only two World Wars in recorded history, the fact that he successfully sustained a war on the White Council for over a century and it likely took the largest Nuke ever to defeat him (which I know contradicts the whole thing about locking his magic down and chainsawing him and burning him BUT it also literally happened the same day in the same location...), and the fact Kemmler tried to become a dark god (and so did his disciples later, presumably to continue his plan-ish) and begin some sort of New World Order type-of-deal - the sheer fact that it barely disrupted Drakul and he found his antics merely amusing, really shows how endgame, dangerous and outright terrible Drakul's plans are. He is playing a long-game in the same way Vadderung is - and I wonder if they were peers, after a fashion, in the old, old days.

The Fallen
"How did the Fall happen if Fallen Angels don't have Free Will?" The Fallen had a chance but abused it, and so the Creator "went in another direction" which might suggest he bound all the non-Fallen thereafter (although it is implied Uriel could Fall, which suggests that all non-Fallen still have that one Choice). But interesting that the Creator didn't see it coming, or did but couldn't stop it, or did see it coming but allowed it to happen anyway. That's more of a philosophical one though.

Mab
Her story is tied up with Merlin's (the original character from the Arthurian legends). Which really only leaves two characters: Nimue and Morganna Le Fay. My guess is the latter and that Nimue/Vivian was simply Mab's predecessor. Particularly given that Mab had Morganna's Athame.

Bob
Bob's skull is the skull of the person who died to "birth" him. Given that spirits like Bob are created by a combination of a spirit-being and a mortal, we can only assume the skull was once a mortal's. Mab is the strongest candidate for his mother, but it doesn't leave many options. Old WOJ states it was a wizard called Etienne the Enchanter who made the skull, but this appears to have been retconned as Jim has said we have met Bob's parents.

Thoughts?

Changes was about breaking from the previous series norms. Harry lost his house, his allies, his usual weapons, even literally the theme of his magic went from fire to more ice-focussed (at least, for a while). Jim has talked about how he wanted to strip Dresden back so that he could do other stuff. Which he did. Changes, Ghost Story, and Cold Days were almost one big phase. Things went back to "normal" in Skin Game (partially why it was so well received I imagine). Then Jim blew that to hell, so to speak, with Peace Talks and Battle Ground.

So, if Twelve Months is meant to be a book about changing things, one would have to work out what Jim is trying to change. Are we going back to a more familiar Harry? Or are we going to somewhere new?

I do agree that it will reveal some interesting points of information about starborn and the Cycle. Although, I doubt will get the whole picture. Jim wants us to keep buying books, after all!

I am going to make this really clear. I and the other mods will not tolerate rule breaking and general antisocial behaviour. We don't have the time or patience for it. I am not going to spend all my time warning people. Be kind and courteous to each other, read the rules and precepts and Rules of Don't again. I advise everybody to do that just to be clear on everything. Most people here are very well behaved and I won't have it ruined for them.

So, according to a reddit comment I found, Jim has apparently said that Harry's Pyrofuego spell in Grave Peril, the spell that ignites the canopy of the roof above him and creates tendrils of nearly-living fire that grab and burn vampires, the spell that stopped his heart and nearly killed him - that spell, is apparently not a death curse, but actually something that will be revealed at the end of the Dresden Files (not the BAT).

I had never considered it before, but that spell is unlike any spell Harry or any other wizard has cast. Similar to Fiendfyre in Harry Potter (or whatever that spell Grindelwald uses in the Crimes of Grindelwald movie), it creates physics defying fire. Fire that can "grab" a being, and annihilate them. Harry, to my knowledge, has never made fire that hot or fire that did more than physics allowed it to (let's leave any Soulfire or Hellfire out for now).

So what do we think happened?

My personal view is that it Harry was tapping into his Starborn power, perhaps his "Destroyer" nature that has been hinted at several times. I have often wondered if Harry's Destroyer nature is similar to Foo Dogs in that he is a focal point of chaos that changes the course of the universe around him in unpredictable and destructive ways. Similar to how Mouse can affect the probability of things to be good and wholesome and work out, and how Ash (My Shadow) can do the opposite.

But now I wonder if some of it is more direct? Just how Harry burned a non-physical being like He Who Walks Behind at a Gas station. Yes, fire is destructive even without magic to magical beings. But we also know that Outsiders are nearly impossible to affect, magically or otherwise. But Starborn have a special power that actually allows them to hurt the being on the other end of the Outsider, the thing that is reaching into the universe through it's avatars e.g. the Cornerhounds are simply the "fingers" of a being reaching into the Dresden universe. It can't manifest fully, so it creates avatars in order to interact with the universe. Normally, this is excellent protection against beings of that universe because the being outside the universe is insulated from any real pain or damage. But Starborn have the ability to actually reach through that connection between the avatar and the original being, and actually cause them real pain and damage. Perhaps even kill them.

So, does anyone have a link to Jim saying that Harry's spell is more than it seems? And what do we think about it?

This topic has been moved to [Recycling]. due to being unrelated and pure bait.

https://www.paranetonline.com/index.php?topic=55060.0