You are Harry Dresden.

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The Romulan Republic
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You are Harry Dresden.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

You find yourself in the shoes of one Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, Wizard and Warlock of the White Council. To make things a little easier, this is just a really good simulation, meaning that you won't actually die, be possessed, etc.- if you are defeated, you simply wake up back in the real world. But if you play through it and win, you get your choice of nigh-immortality, 100 million dollars, or a private island. You will have your own knowledge of the books, whatever that may be, plus access to all of Harry Dresden's abilities and knowledge.

You enter Dresden's body at the start of the first Dresden Files novel, Storm Front. Meaning Dresden is already established in Chicago, working for CPD, and on the White Council's shit list for past misdeeds.

What do you do? Can you defeat the Black Council/Outsiders and avoid making quite as many mistakes and getting quite as many ass kickings as canon Dresden did in the process?

Edit: One more thing: If a wizard soul gazes you or looks on you with the Sight, they will not be able to tell that you are not the real Harry Dresden.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Jub »

I do the one thing Harry Dresden can't seem to do and swallow my pride. I'd work to mend the relationship between myself and the council with the aim of working with them as opposed to having to fight with them at every turn. This might mean sitting on my hands a bit, passing the council information about guys I'd normally go after myself, and trying to ignore any losses I could have prevented. I'd do this because I know what the series is building towards and that the threats of the earlier novels are small potatoes next to the threats that will be coming. I need allies for that and I don't want some of Dresden's bagging weighing me down.

I could also start dealing with people differently due to knowing them before they know me. I could approach Thomas as his brother, with proof of our relationship right away. I could keep Susan away from the Red Court and avoid being the scapegoat for the war. I could feed my intelligence to Michael giving him an edge beyond what his divine favour gives him. I could start mentoring Molly earlier before she gets into trouble. I could start to build up my reputation with the little folk as the 'Za Lord much earlier. The list goes on, and it's all very much to my advantage.

My knowledge also allows me to go after people in ways Harry himself never could. I could strike from angles people wouldn't see coming. I could also play the stock market, based on real world stock changes as well as events in the books. Having less of a money issue than my canon counterpart means that I can afford to spend more time doing productive work and less time chasing my tail.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Jub wrote:I do the one thing Harry Dresden can't seem to do and swallow my pride. I'd work to mend the relationship between myself and the council with the aim of working with them as opposed to having to fight with them at every turn.
This has some advantages in theory, though the Council really are a right bunch of bastards in their own way, but the problem is who do you trust, and who will trust you? We the readers still don't know who all is secretly a Black Council member, and Morgan (one of the few we can be pretty sure isn't) at this point in the series will pretty much kill you as soon as look at you. That leaves Ebineezer McCoy (already in your corner, though a little more information sharing might be wise) and possibly Captain Luccio, who while relatively decent does not yet know you or have any reason to regard you as more than another possible warlock.

In other words, building more contacts in the Council is a good idea, but its a long-term, uphill battle, and you'll need to be real careful who you shoot your mouth off around.
This might mean sitting on my hands a bit, passing the council information about guys I'd normally go after myself, and trying to ignore any losses I could have prevented. I'd do this because I know what the series is building towards and that the threats of the earlier novels are small potatoes next to the threats that will be coming. I need allies for that and I don't want some of Dresden's bagging weighing me down.
That's doable, if you're willing to swallow the collateral damage, but only to a point. For the events of Storm Front, at least, you're pretty much locked in. Murphy will crucify you if you don't work with her, and Morgan will crucify you if you can't prove someone else is doing the killings, fast.

I wouldn't want to make this too easy, after all. :wink:
I could also start dealing with people differently due to knowing them before they know me. I could approach Thomas as his brother, with proof of our relationship right away. I could keep Susan away from the Red Court and avoid being the scapegoat for the war. I could feed my intelligence to Michael giving him an edge beyond what his divine favour gives him. I could start mentoring Molly earlier before she gets into trouble. I could start to build up my reputation with the little folk as the 'Za Lord much earlier. The list goes on, and it's all very much to my advantage.
These all have merit, and are relatively easily accomplished. Although Thomas in particular remains a bit of a wild card due to the Hunger, his ties to House Raith, and all the issues those things pose. Essentially, Thomas is a very powerful and loyal ally in the making with a lot of really nasty baggage.

Although if I could use the extra time I might have to arrange things so that Thomas takes over House Raith and the White Court rather than Laura, that might be really worthwhile. After all, short of destroying the White Court outright (a very good idea in theory, of course, but hard to do), someone's going to take over, and Thomas seems the least horrible option.
My knowledge also allows me to go after people in ways Harry himself never could. I could strike from angles people wouldn't see coming. I could also play the stock market, based on real world stock changes as well as events in the books. Having less of a money issue than my canon counterpart means that I can afford to spend more time doing productive work and less time chasing my tail.
I'd be wary of playing the stock market based on real world knowledge, as this is something of an alternate reality and in any case, the butterfly effect will cause any changes you make to have increasingly drastic effects on the course of events over time.

Edit: One thing I absolutely do is start the Paranet a decade or so early. Its an absolutely excellent idea to organize the otherwise vulnerable low-level practitioners like that. Long term, it could even provide a viable alternative to the White Council. I'd go so far as to say its arguably the single smartest thing Dresden's done in the series.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Broomstick »

The Romulan Republic wrote:What do you do?
Look down with a puzzled glare and say "I never used to have male organs..."

Oh, wait, wrong storyverse...

Do consider that if you attempt to keep Susan away from the Red Court there may not be a way to eliminate the Red Court down the line... which may or may not be a good thing in the long run. Keep Dresden from touching Laschiel's coin and he might not learn to use soulfire. If you change too much you'll know longer know what's coming because the story changes so much.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

I did mention the butterfly effect, but for precisely that reason, its pointless to try to follow the events of the books. Even tiny changes (which will inevitably occur because you are not Harry Dresden) will have massive effects. So rather than trying to mirror canon, you kind of have to chart your own course, ideally the best possible one. Of course that will be unpredictable, but let's be honest- some of Dresden's choices (you gave some fine examples above) were really, really bad, advantageous side effects notwithstanding (and Dresden himself would acknowledge that in some cases).

Of course, you might loose horribly. But you might also enjoy unforeseen benefits. For one thing, play the Red Court thing differently and you might postpone the war to a more advantageous time and situation. Probably not, though, because realistically, most of us probably aren't any better at politicking than early series Harry Dresden is. ;) All we've really got is a lot of knowledge, some idea of who is relatively trustworthy, and a lot of raw power. So simple plans or leaning on others for advice or political maneuvering is probably best.

So its largely a game of "pick your allies."
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Crazedwraith »

Realistically, I figure it's game over pretty quickly because I do not have Harry's quick thinking, strange charm and great luck to see me through anything even if I do know what's coming.

Basically if you don't set off the red war early you're probably fucked since they'd set it off anyway at a time and place of their choosing. And if I do go to Bianca's party I'm probably dead anyway.

And very hard to find an end game for the black council/outsiders considering even Harry has done that in canon.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Crazedwraith wrote:Realistically, I figure it's game over pretty quickly because I do not have Harry's quick thinking, strange charm and great luck to see me through anything even if I do know what's coming.
That's why, as I said, the smart play is not to try to mastermind everything yourself, but instead to use the one advantage you have (knowledge) and then give that knowledge to the right people.
Basically if you don't set off the red war early you're probably fucked since they'd set it off anyway at a time and place of their choosing. And if I do go to Bianca's party I'm probably dead anyway.
Well, Bianca wants to maneuver you into making an act of aggression, unless other changes to this reality cause her to change her plans. So if you're prepared to swallow your pride and principles and watch her slaughter an innocent person in front of you, you can probably avoid a fight. The other big factors (Susan and the Sword of the Cross falling into the wrong hands) you can probably avoid, if you use some common sense. Hell, play Storm Front differently and you can avoid provoking Bianca so much in the first place.

But the smart thing to do is not to avoid a fight, but to start one on your terms at a time and place of your choosing. Its probably too much to hope for that you could maneuver Bianca or another Red Courter into striking first for political reasons, but you can be much better prepared for when the fighting starts, potentially.
And very hard to find an end game for the black council/outsiders considering even Harry has done that in canon.
Yeah. Although one thing you will know is that Peabody is a traitor working with them.

Edit: You'll also know about the existence of the whole plot, and their infiltration of certain key individuals and organizations in particular, way sooner.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Ralin »

Jub wrote:I do the one thing Harry Dresden can't seem to do and swallow my pride. I'd work to mend the relationship between myself and the council with the aim of working with them as opposed to having to fight with them at every turn. This might mean sitting on my hands a bit, passing the council information about guys I'd normally go after myself, and trying to ignore any losses I could have prevented. I'd do this because I know what the series is building towards and that the threats of the earlier novels are small potatoes next to the threats that will be coming. I need allies for that and I don't want some of Dresden's bagging weighing me down.
This, plus an emphasis on getting more training. Harry uses his magic like a fire hose most of the time and it's probably because his overall magical education was short and scatter shot. Yeah DuMorne taught him some and yeah he was Ebenezer's apprentice, but he says that the latter didn't really teach him much about magic as opposed to serving as a role model and teaching him responsibility and shit. He could be a lot more powerful if he'd made nice with the Council sooner.
The Romulan Republic wrote: Of course, you might loose horribly. But you might also enjoy unforeseen benefits. For one thing, play the Red Court thing differently and you might postpone the war to a more advantageous time and situation.
Shiro was of the opinion that the Red Court was just biding its time to start the war years or decades down the road and that Harry kicking it off when no one expected was probably what made it winnable. I tend to agree. As a book reader I don't know what would have been a significantly better time or place to kick off the war and as Harry I probably wouldn't have the information to make that call either.

You should also factor in the consequences of not being the crazy and dangerous wizard who routinely goes toe to toe with every major supernatural baddie that starts shit in Chicago and wins. We know from Ghost Story onward that a lot of nasty things steered clear of Chicago specifically because they didn't want to risk Harry Dresden coming after them. If you don't act enough like Harry Dresden that won't happen, and who knows what that will open the door to.

Maybe start being nice to Marcone. That could help a lot.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Ralin wrote:This, plus an emphasis on getting more training. Harry uses his magic like a fire hose most of the time and it's probably because his overall magical education was short and scatter shot. Yeah DuMorne taught him some and yeah he was Ebenezer's apprentice, but he says that the latter didn't really teach him much about magic as opposed to serving as a role model and teaching him responsibility and shit. He could be a lot more powerful if he'd made nice with the Council sooner.
That is a good point.
Shiro was of the opinion that the Red Court was just biding its time to start the war years or decades down the road and that Harry kicking it off when no one expected was probably what made it winnable. I tend to agree. As a book reader I don't know what would have been a significantly better time or place to kick off the war and as Harry I probably wouldn't have the information to make that call either.
Perhaps. Although at the very least you could take steps to ensure you personally were better prepared before kicking off the war. Though that would make you look even more guilty in the eyes of the Council if they found out.
You should also factor in the consequences of not being the crazy and dangerous wizard who routinely goes toe to toe with every major supernatural baddie that starts shit in Chicago and wins. We know from Ghost Story onward that a lot of nasty things steered clear of Chicago specifically because they didn't want to risk Harry Dresden coming after them. If you don't act enough like Harry Dresden that won't happen, and who knows what that will open the door to.
That is a very good point. Dresden has a world-class reputation for taking down things that would normally be out of his league by the later books of the series.
Maybe start being nice to Marcone. That could help a lot.
Yes and no. Building bridges with Marcone would likely mean burning bridges with Murphy and SI, especially early on when Murphy isn't particularly trusting of Dresden. Of course, from a purely calculating perspective, Marcone is probably a more valuable ally.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Gaidin »

The Romulan Republic wrote: Yes and no. Building bridges with Marcone would likely mean burning bridges with Murphy and SI, especially early on when Murphy isn't particularly trusting of Dresden. Of course, from a purely calculating perspective, Marcone is probably a more valuable ally.
Two things. Marcone is a business ally, Dresden is more a moral ally. Moral, maybe ethic. Well, not business.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Lonestar »

I think it's easy to not make Marcone an enemy by simply being a hell of a lot more polite when you interact with him. "I understand you offer, and I appreciate it, but I'll have to decline."
"The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles."
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Well, Marcone does seem like the kind of man who, as long as you stay out of his way and don't antagonize him, won't start trouble with you.

Of course, he's a scumbag, but he's a scumbag for whom "pick your battles" might be a viable option. Marcone is not someone you necessarily have to fight, unlike the apocalyptic Black Council crowd or the Denarians, the kind of monsters who serve ultimate evil and for whom mass killing is an end in itself.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Ralin »

Lonestar wrote:I think it's easy to not make Marcone an enemy by simply being a hell of a lot more polite when you interact with him. "I understand you offer, and I appreciate it, but I'll have to decline."
"Oh great, here comes that douchebag Marcone with his helicopter and his valkyrie to help save an untenable situation. God I hate that guy."

"Oh look, it's that fucking asshole Marcone with his unlimited resources and a private army of badasses to help me in my unending fight against the forces of darkness. HEY MARCONE, FUCK YOU! SOON AS I GET THE CHANCE I'M TAKING YOU DOWN!!!"
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Gaidin »

Well, something like that, Marcone's more like "Dresden's being polite...what am I missing?"
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Lonestar »

So question for OP.

Wouldn't a Wizard soulgaze reveal you aren't Dresden?
"The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles."
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Gaidin »

Not persay from what I can tell. The same soulgaze we get in Storm Front may reveal a different person as such. But we are still Harry Dresden. He may find he still has a shot at bribing us depending on who he's talking to. But as the title goes...."You are Harry Dresden".
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Lonestar wrote:So question for OP.

Wouldn't a Wizard soulgaze reveal you aren't Dresden?
I specified in the OP that it would not for the purposes of this scenario.

Weather it would in canon... debatable, and probably depends on the circumstances. Dresden himself notes, I believe, that a soul gaze doesn't tell you everything about a person. It basically gives you a sense of their true self, their innermost nature, as I understand it. And even though how you'd appear in a soul gaze would undoubtably be different from how canon Dresden would appear, how would the person soul gazing you know the difference? You can only do a soul gaze on someone once, so you can't compare changes.

Though actually, that raises an interesting question. If someone's soul was switched with another who took over their body (like Corpsetaker did to poor Lucio), would you then be able to soul gaze them, even if you'd soul gazed the previous inhabiter of that body before?

Could be a way of catching body switches. Though of course, soul gazes aren't something anyone does lightly.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Alyrium Denryle »

Gaidin wrote:
The Romulan Republic wrote: Yes and no. Building bridges with Marcone would likely mean burning bridges with Murphy and SI, especially early on when Murphy isn't particularly trusting of Dresden. Of course, from a purely calculating perspective, Marcone is probably a more valuable ally.
Two things. Marcone is a business ally, Dresden is more a moral ally. Moral, maybe ethic. Well, not business.
Well first thing is first. I read Murphy and SI in on everything. If they dont believe me, I get them in a room and demonstrate my powers. Solves a lot of problems. No more of that "science" vs "supernatural" BS. Science is simply incomplete.

Insofar as mortal crime is concerned, I dont get involved. That is the job of the police. Supernatural crime is my jurisdiction, and if I need support, they help. EVERYONE is on the same team with supernatural crime. I make it clear to Marcone that as long as he is strictly a mortal criminal, I wont mess with him, and he better not interfere with and must help me when requested (he is free to engage Odin's contractual services however, so long as they are for defense against supernatural attack and general security contracting, and are not used to directly aid his criminal endeavors in the mortal world. Ms. Guard is free to ward him against spirits and he can use mercs to fight vampires, but he cannot use Ms. Guard to help him rob a bank or sell drugs). In return, I will help him if he runs into supernatural problems.

That is Step 1, Book 1. Going through every book will get a bit exhausting, but a lot of the problems are significantly reduced when I have those sorts of arrangements. It will be easier for me to find the evidence I need (because I know where to look for it) and reach proper conclusions on investigative cases. I just have to make sure that the council does not think I am using time travel...

Book by book work will be done in subsequent posts.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Alyrium Denryle wrote:
Gaidin wrote:
The Romulan Republic wrote: Yes and no. Building bridges with Marcone would likely mean burning bridges with Murphy and SI, especially early on when Murphy isn't particularly trusting of Dresden. Of course, from a purely calculating perspective, Marcone is probably a more valuable ally.
Two things. Marcone is a business ally, Dresden is more a moral ally. Moral, maybe ethic. Well, not business.
Well first thing is first. I read Murphy and SI in on everything. If they dont believe me, I get them in a room and demonstrate my powers. Solves a lot of problems. No more of that "science" vs "supernatural" BS. Science is simply incomplete.
This is an excellent idea, though some details might have to be held back (their may be some corrupt cops in SI).

It is, however, likely to displease the White Council, and supernatural powers in general. As I recall, bringing mortal authorities into supernatural conflicts is frowned on in the supernatural world of The Dresden Files.
Insofar as mortal crime is concerned, I dont get involved. That is the job of the police. Supernatural crime is my jurisdiction, and if I need support, they help. EVERYONE is on the same team with supernatural crime. I make it clear to Marcone that as long as he is strictly a mortal criminal, I wont mess with him, and he better not interfere with and must help me when requested (he is free to engage Odin's contractual services however, so long as they are for defense against supernatural attack and general security contracting, and are not used to directly aid his criminal endeavors in the mortal world. Ms. Guard is free to ward him against spirits and he can use mercs to fight vampires, but he cannot use Ms. Guard to help him rob a bank or sell drugs). In return, I will help him if he runs into supernatural problems.
This seems fairly reasonable.
That is Step 1, Book 1. Going through every book will get a bit exhausting, but a lot of the problems are significantly reduced when I have those sorts of arrangements. It will be easier for me to find the evidence I need (because I know where to look for it) and reach proper conclusions on investigative cases. I just have to make sure that the council does not think I am using time travel...

Book by book work will be done in subsequent posts.
I look forward to it.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Alyrium Denryle »

This is an excellent idea, though some details might have to be held back (their may be some corrupt cops in SI).

It is, however, likely to displease the White Council, and supernatural powers in general. As I recall, bringing mortal authorities into supernatural conflicts is frowned on in the supernatural world of The Dresden Files.
The White Council is already displeased. And I would not bring them in directly for firepower purposes. Investigation assistance, cutting red tape, victim extraction. That sort of thing.
I look forward to it.
Book 1.

I go through largely as Harry did. Except I finally lay out the Truth for the mortals I need. Murphy and Marcone in particular. The reason I do this is because I would rather like to get out from under the Doom of Damocles (it means letting a certain hooker die, but cest la vie). What is different is that Murph does not search my office, does not run into the evil scorpion golum, and I have my full took kit when I run into Victor at the end. I kick his ass up around his ears, release his pet demon, and dont actually kill him. I let Morgan see me do all this. Out from under the Doom.

Book 2.

Book 2 is where things really diverge. My ersatz apprentice gets told what she needs. Mainly that the greater circle she wants to do is way the fuck outside her abilities. I will explain why. In detail. Everything she wants to know. That will probably dissuade her. I get her to bring me in on the whole thing with the Loup Garou (or if she is not dissuaded, I follow her and bring myself in. It helps that Susan is of no romantic interest to me at all. Speaking of which I need to start cultivating a boyfriend. Sorry Harry, it might be your body, but it is my mind). I let Murph know that this is a thing that could happen, and that the OTHER thing she has me investigating with the animal attacks is not actually connected (oddly enough). I tell her about Hexenwulfen vs Loup Garou, and tell her she is looking for Hexenwulfen, and that she might want to query the FBI offices about the case history of the agents she is currently working with.

Because I am competent, I successfully contain the Loup Garou, and enlist the help of Tara West, as well as Billy and the Werewolves to take down the FBI agents. Probably by tricking them into trying to pin their Marcone Murder on the Werewolves, but of course I have already informed Marcone and the hunters become the prey. But, I keep their leader alive. I wont be in the same desperate state when I go after them. And to tie up the loose ends, I remove the pack of lycanthropes from the board one evening. Go in wreathed in spells, subdue them with magic and run them the fuck out of town. Oh, and I dig a hole under a wall. That might be useful later.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Ralin »

Alyrium Denryle wrote: Ms. Guard is free to ward him against spirits and he can use mercs to fight vampires, but he cannot use Ms. Guard to help him rob a bank or sell drugs).
Ms. Gard.

And more on topic, this is basically challenging Marcone by claiming authority over him in his territory. Or claiming the supernatural side of Chicago as your territory. Either way, he's not going to react well. The man doesn't back down and he doesn't take orders. Do that and you risk going from a potential tool and long-term annoyance to a rival. Marcone kills those. He's pretty good at it.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Alyrium Denryle »

Ralin wrote:
Alyrium Denryle wrote: Ms. Guard is free to ward him against spirits and he can use mercs to fight vampires, but he cannot use Ms. Guard to help him rob a bank or sell drugs).
Ms. Gard.

And more on topic, this is basically challenging Marcone by claiming authority over him in his territory. Or claiming the supernatural side of Chicago as your territory. Either way, he's not going to react well. The man doesn't back down and he doesn't take orders. Do that and you risk going from a potential tool and long-term annoyance to a rival. Marcone kills those. He's pretty good at it.

I bend the laws of physics to my whim. Make no mistake, if Harry really wanted to, he could smite Marcone's ruin upon the proverbial mountainside without ever breaking the laws of magic. He has never been rationally afraid of what Marcone can actually do to him, but irrationally afraid of Marcone's personality.

I would be delineating the parameters of a mutually beneficial alliance/our respective spheres of influence. He is a mortal criminal. The magical shit is beyond his pay grade, and he knows it. If he is not aware, I will make it clear to him. It is not until the later books that he can even start bootstrapping his way into being something even remotely able to defend himself in that regard, and even that it is with Harry's assistance.

I would walk into his office under a veil (because I do have the mental chops to pull off that sort of magic), appear, and set copies of Lovecraft, Faust, Dracula, a Midsummer Night's Dream, Dr. Strange, and Sabriel on his desk and say something along the lines of this.

"This is my job. Your mortal criminal enterprise is beneath my concern. Consider our respective spheres as non-overlapping magisteria. I will not interfere in your affairs unless you run into something along these lines, or unless you make yourself a problem along these lines. Feel free to take measures to defend yourself. I expect the same courtesy. If either one of us steps on something respecting supernatural agencies, we can talk and request assistance with no quid pro quo required, because when it comes to our world and those horrors that seek to eat or enslave us, we are all on the same team. I came in while cloaked, so your authority has not been threatened. Do you have questions?"

If he objects to this, I can end him. It would not even be all that difficult.
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Ralin
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Ralin »

Alyrium Denryle wrote:I bend the laws of physics to my whim. Make no mistake, if Harry really wanted to, he could smite Marcone's ruin upon the proverbial mountainside without ever breaking the laws of magic. He has never been rationally afraid of what Marcone can actually do to him, but irrationally afraid of Marcone's personality.
You're making a lot of assumptions there. Marcone has gone up against supernatural enemies and won. We don't know exactly when he first contracted Ms. Gard or what his anti-supernatural measures before her were, but given that what we know about the guy and given that he got into the same limo with Harry in Storm Front it's a safe bet that he had some and that he was confident in them.

(I am aware that is an assumption. But it's an informed one)

I mean, just look at which enemies have come the closest to killing Harry in the past few books. The pixie death squadron, the Eebs and Ghoul With A Stick weren't exactly powerhouses, but smart+pragmatic and/or sneaky has a dangerously good track record. Marcone's a mobster. He knows how to kill people. If Kincaid can work out how to kill Harry Marcone damned well can too.
He is a mortal criminal. The magical shit is beyond his pay grade, and he knows it. If he is not aware, I will make it clear to him.
You uh, do remember all the things Marcone has accomplished in canon, right? He's shown he very much is capable of playing with the supernatural crowd.
I would walk into his office under a veil (because I do have the mental chops to pull off that sort of magic),
This is another big assumption. How do you know you'll be able to pull that off? You've never used magic in your life (if you have I'd love to know about it), so you really don't have any frame of reference to judge how much better or worse you'd be at veils than Harry. The OP says you have Harry's knowledge and abilities, and starting at the beginning of Storm Front means you won't have had much opportunity to practice.

This is not getting into things like Marcone's unknown but probably extant precautions against that sort of thing, nearby bodyguards like Hendrick, Harry's really damned strong techbane effect blowing out electronics as he goes through the building, etc.
"This is my job. Your mortal criminal enterprise is beneath my concern. Consider our respective spheres as non-overlapping magisteria. I will not interfere in your affairs unless you run into something along these lines, or unless you make yourself a problem along these lines. Feel free to take measures to defend yourself. I expect the same courtesy. If either one of us steps on something respecting supernatural agencies, we can talk and request assistance with no quid pro quo required, because when it comes to our world and those horrors that seek to eat or enslave us, we are all on the same team. I came in while cloaked, so your authority has not been threatened. Do you have questions?"
You just demonstrated to Marcone that you're someone who can walk into his office invisibly and offer him terms. Do you really think he's not going to start making plans to kill you as soon as you walk out the room?

They might not be immediate plans, but you've just put up a big sign declaring that you think you can kill him.
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Alyrium Denryle
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by Alyrium Denryle »

You're making a lot of assumptions there. Marcone has gone up against supernatural enemies and won.
In the later books, yes. Largely by pointing Harry at things until he has post-accorded infrastructure in place. I would be doing this in the early books, when he does not have those kinds of defenses.
We don't know exactly when he first contracted Ms. Gard or what his anti-supernatural measures before her were, but given that what we know about the guy and given that he got into the same limo with Harry in Storm Front it's a safe bet that he had some and that he was confident in them.
No. It isn't. He did it because from his perspective he had no choice. Supernatural BS he had no means of tracking down or stopping was interfering in his "business affairs" and he was trying to keep Harry from snooping through bribery and physical intimidation. The soul gaze was his countermeasure. To rattle Harry and keep him from going on the war path. He was better informed than most mortals, but if he had means at his disposal that would be able to handle a pissed off Wizard, he already would have tracked down the Shadowman.

Some sort of anti-wizard countermeasures would have been useful in books 1 and 2, he did not have them, otherwise he would have used them.

As for Ms Gard, I am assuming he contracts her sometime between books 2 and 5.
I mean, just look at which enemies have come the closest to killing Harry in the past few books. The pixie death squadron, the Eebs and Ghoul With A Stick weren't exactly powerhouses, but smart+pragmatic and/or sneaky has a dangerously good track record. Marcone's a mobster. He knows how to kill people. If Kincaid can work out how to kill Harry Marcone damned well can too.
Oh, he certainly can. A sniper or exhaustion is the ultimate equalizer. But with prep time or overwhelming force, Harry wins. By extension, with prep-time or overwhelming force, I win.

And so, if Marcone does not accept my terms of entente (which he has no reason to reject given that I am basically saying "if you dont mess with me, I wont mess with you, just dont make yourself a problem for those things in my bailywick"), I know how to deal with snipers.

I have the mental focus necessary for veils (and ideally would not approach Marcone this way until I had a decent one worked out). I am perfectly happy to put in the time and effort to make myself bullet proof much earlier than Harry does (I will have more free time, given that I will have the better part of a year to devote to such practices between books 3 and 4 when I am pointedly not trying to de-vamp Susan because that whole book will go much differently). I can bribe faeries to follow him and his people around and inform me of their doings.

He has a pretty narrow range of things he can use to strike me, I know what they are, and I have sufficient imagination and energy reserves to devise countermeasures. He has no effective counters for what I can do to him until several books down the line.
This is another big assumption. How do you know you'll be able to pull that off? You've never used magic in your life (if you have I'd love to know about it), so you really don't have any frame of reference to judge how much better or worse you'd be at veils than Harry.
Harry cannot do good veils because of a quirk in his psychology that I lack. If I cannot pull off a veil, I can use other means. Illusory sendings, an arranged meeting such that he feels no need to defend his perceived authority etc. I can also wait until I have practice time. I dont need to walk into his office on Day 1.
You just demonstrated to Marcone that you're someone who can walk into his office invisibly and offer him terms. Do you really think he's not going to start making plans to kill you as soon as you walk out the room?

They might not be immediate plans, but you've just put up a big sign declaring that you think you can kill him.
I fully expect him to start working on contingency plans (hell, I will have contingency plans). But he already knows Harry is pretty sure he can kill him. Harry has said as much, and demonstrated it using pure adamant force in the first book. The only reason Marcone had to think of a way not to try to have him killed was because it was done in front of god and everyone and was a threat to him socially/politically. He cannot afford to look weak. He can however afford to acknowledge in his own mind that someone is actually a physical threat to him without feeling compelled to kill that person.
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Re: You are Harry Dresden.

Post by The Grim Squeaker »

This is rather asking for a "Harry Dresden and the methods of rationality" type fanfiction :)
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