The Dresden Files: Caught in the Undertow

Oh, condiments. Is there any supernatural problem you can't solve?

I was going for he'd leave a silvery portal hanging there that only demons can step through, that leads to a safer place in the Nevernever, and having the Ghouls not attack demons (they don't taste that good). So not only do they have to pick up their coins, they also have to go all the way. He can't bother waiting a year or so for them to do it on their own, you see.

Of course, Dee's never seen the uber-ghouls before. And Dresden was hard-pressed to fight against them.

Alas, Condiments have failed me...

Wait, is it even possible for someone to open Ways from one part of the Nevernever to another, as opposed to simply passing back and forth between Earth and the Nevernever?

...Oh wait. Cowl. Nevermind then.

Still, wouldn't it be extremely difficult to create a Ward that could discern whether someone had been completely overtaken by a Fallen?

...Oh wait. Cowl. Forget what I said.

Edit: Well, Cowl only mentioned Ghouls, not Uber-Ghouls. That is a thin strand of logic to cling to...

In any case, Bartholomew thinks that Cowls was talking about conventional Ghouls.

Rather then become the next 'Power House Slob', then I suppose I should dictate exactly what he's doing. In essence, the ward in front of the portal breaks down gravity. At a molecular level. He's not actually capable of doing it without the right focusing equipment, but he has had time to prepare and a whole lot of resources he’s inherited, stolen from Petrovich (the second best necromancer/vampire expert after Kremmler, whom he helped kill) or made himself, and so he pulled it off.
So if you touch it, you’ll fall apart at an atomic level, and your atoms will scatter on the wind. It would actually look pretty cool, I imagine. No humans getting through that. But it’s only a thin line. Something much, much denser then a human could get through only loosing a few layers of skin if they took a run-up.

Huh. Very interesting, Draxx.

Of course, I've read a very good fanfic that postulated the theory that Cowl is Pietrovich, who faked his death (and death curse) at Archangel to take himself out of the visible supernatural scene.

From the looks of things, Cowl still has a spot on the White Council, though.

Colesign wrote:Huh. Very interesting, Draxx.

Of course, I've read a very good fanfic that postulated the theory that Cowl is Pietrovich, who faked his death (and death curse) at Archangel to take himself out of the visible supernatural scene.

From the looks of things, Cowl still has a spot on the White Council, though.

Yeah, I like that one as well. The one about Donald Morgan, right? But now that Morgan is dead, it doesn't really mesh so well, what with Dresden having mentioned Petrovich all of once. I mean, the badguy finally pulling off his mask, and the good guy, or worse still, the audience, having no idea who he is, is a terrible thing, anti-climactic and undramatic.

Anyway, that was back when Cowl was opposing the follows of Kremmler in his own, equally evil way, rather then twirling a moustache and losing whatever villain credability he had working with chumps. With the White Court thing, it doesn't really make sense anymore, at least with those motivations.

If it is someone already established, I'm going for Ebernezzar myself. Dark magic corrupts, right? Hell, maybe the Grey Council really is the Black Council.

Then again, if we get a book later that suddenly mentions Petrovich, we'll know it is him, just like Peabody never got more then a mention before it was his turn to be revealed to be evil. I knew he had to be the moment he was shown, just because there was no other reason for him to be in the story, you know?

Heh. Right.

Although who knows? I'm pretty sure Cowl isn't Ebenezzar, because Cowl displayed a lack of familiarity with Dresden upon their first meeting, saying things like "I was hoping to see why the Council fears you so much." and stuff of that ilk.

And just to be sure, so that I'm not messing around with your continuity: is there any way for Bartholomew and the Minor Talent Crew to escape from Ghoul-land on their own without taking up the coins?

My current emergency plan, if Sanya, Fix, and Co. can't open a Way (an action that I hope isn't meta: it seems like something that they would do), is to kill some ghouls, skin them alive, and use their skins as meat-suits to bear the brunt of the disintegration field when people jump through.

...Now that I typed that sentence out, I just realized how ridiculous it sounded.

Considering that Dresden Files muggles and minor talents really don't have all that much to offer...not really.

I mean, Mort, if he was alive, could have called up the spirits of the dead to fight and shield them...provided said spirits were willing to do so. But he's dead, so...the ghost of an ectomancer, possibly?

Well, as a point of fact, Bartholomew's trying to save Mort's life right now.

We'll see if it works or not.

Still, the only ambient ghost around is Tyrone's. Unless Cowl has been using Ghoul-land as a place to get rid of meddlers for a while.

You are forgetting that Cowl is a great and powerful necromancer. Yes, he does use this place to feed the ghouls. And he uses the ghosts to feed himself. Not the Darkhallow (exactly) but he sure as hell doesn't believe in waste.

As for the party getting here, they have very little chance of that. This is very, very deep in the Nevernever, which is why he had so much trouble with the portal. I mean, past Olympus deep.

Saving Mort's life I'm fine with, but as the rope is about thirty feet long you might be better... you know, throwing fire bombs then trying to breathe fire.

As for the Nevernever, well it depends which book you want to base it on. If we go by White Knight, then it is all determined by the will of the man opening the portal, and anything can lead to anywhere. Indeed, that was the essence of Dresden's plan, that Cowl could not follow them after he closed the portal, because their minds don't work the same way.

Or if we go by Changes, The Nevernever is static and unchanging, always leading to the same place from the same port. If you go through from Dresden's basement, you come to Lea's garden, regardless of where you intend to end up.

Personally, I think the only way to do it is to make them both true. There is the lowest level, which is connected, and the highest level, which is not connected, and can be accessed from anywhere.

And finally, as for your plan...
Gravity doesn't work that way. You'd still be the same density, and your mass would not change in the slightest.

draxx wrote:As for the Nevernever, well it depends which book you want to base it on. If we go by White Knight, then it is all determined by the will of the man opening the portal, and anything can lead to anywhere. Indeed, that was the essence of Dresden's plan, that Cowl could not follow them after he closed the portal, because their minds don't work the same way.

Or if we go by Changes, The Nevernever is static and unchanging, always leading to the same place from the same port. If you go through from Dresden's basement, you come to Lea's garden, regardless of where you intend to end up.

Personally, I think the only way to do it is to make them both true. There is the lowest level, which is connected, and the highest level, which is not connected, and can be accessed from anywhere.

That's just plot things. Sort of like how 'magic follows physics, except when it doesn't.'

I acknowledge the unlikeliness of not only skinning a Ghoul alive, but also skinning enough for everyone to use to make their way through the portal. That's not gonna happen.

But didn't you say that Cowl's Ward disintegrates matter from the outer layer in? When did gravity enter into it?

No, the demons are rather denser then humans. They have rather more mass. Their bodies are heavier in a vacuum, as much as weight can exist in a vacuum. So they don't break apart as quickly.

So does this mean that the heavier a person is, the slower they'll be disintegrated? Or is it a matter of uniform density?

If it's the former, you could circumvent the Ward by putting really, really, heavy rocks in your pockets and jacket and stuff.

Uniform density.

Cool.

Well...it looks like the only way out is via Faustian Bargain.

Let's see if Bartholomew can avert a Lord of the Flies Scenario at least, and cheat Cowl and Tessa of their sport.

Would a barrier of force, Harry Dresden style, impede the disintegration field? That's not on the table due to the minor talent pool we've got, but I'm just asking out of curiosity.

Yes it would, but the conflicting energies would tear each other apart in a rather spectacular explosion.

Just saw the latest Doctor Who episode last night...

Just...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....

Doctor Who will be back in...Let's Kill Hitler.

Huh. I don't know what to say.

Unless you watch Doctor Who...

Actually, no. The context of that title makes it still confusing.

I don't. It's never grown on me.

But it does seem to be well in opposite of The Doctor's usual style.

Hey Cracklord. When are you going update Sartorius?

Well, it is a cliffhanger title, Cracklord: we'll just have to see what actually happens in the next episode.