CD Spoilers: The Case of the Stolen Walking Stick

[Ezakra]

LOL, it was from that Dragon Magazine article that I was first introduced to her!  It was the tesseract her hut was internally that really intrigued me

[o_O]

LOL, did no one (else) here actually hear the stories as a kid?   Really?

[xakko]

LOL, did no one (else) here actually hear the stories as a kid?   Really?

as a kid, no.  my first Baba Yaga experience was in an X-men comic where she tried to eat Colossus's little sister.  First time I encountered Eitri too... well, no, I tell a lie, I'd read some Norse mythos at that point.

[Serack]

uhm... Cliked on "Post" by error?

actually, I got distracted, and couldn't get back to the post and didn't realize I hadn't completed my thought... leme see...

"Some of what I have read of the Battle of Hastings is that the Norman force had many mercinaries (possibly some being Norse), and that the English/Saxon force had just won the Battle of Stamford Bridge where the Landøyðan had just been captured only weeks before the Battle of Hastings.  It's even said that the short time...."

Oh yah, it's even said that the short time between the 2 battles is one of the major reasons why the English/Saxons lost the battle.  They had to march straight from one battle to the other without a chance to recover.

[lunawriter]

« Reply #19 on: November 28, 2012, 12:27:22 AM » A huge theme in this book was that the Sidhe are titanically powerful, and we're all here wondering if some wizard stole something from a being more wise and experienced than /Mab/, who, lets remember, was running the long con this whole book. I find it far more likely that (assuming it's Mother Winter's) the staff was taken through some trickery orchestrated by a full Queen or Mother Summer, most likely the latter because of Summer's role in limiting the power of Winter upon mortals. Probably had more to do with a fae, and probably involved a bumbling wizard who didn't really know much about what was going on. Probably he/she got one of those lovely "rock and a hard place" choice

I think I agree with The Rat Mage here, and I find it very hard to think that the walking staff is the blackstaff, and if it was how on earth has it stayed in the hands of mortals for a thousand years? Kept from the Winter Mother. If Mab is scary manipulative, her mother must even more so.

Personally the first thing I thought about was the eldest Gruff. (I'm not sure if I'm remembering it right. I bought the audiobook, which makes it very hard to go back and find references, also makes it hard to get spellings right, so sorry if I'm making mistakes with that). I mean, I have no clue why or how or anything like that, and it's pure speculation. But he does have a walking staff at the party in the beginning of the book. From our encounters with the Gruffs, they had no need for walking sticks when running around trying to kill Harry a few books back. And I don't see what a few years will do to a fae. So then why have a walking stick? I suppose it could be for show or something. But he was also portrayed with stoles that he had won of the white council, and the rest of his garb was very simple. Though I do wonder if not someone amongst all those fae would recognize it, and that proves that it isn't.
Anyway, just throwing my two cents in.

[Elbryan629]

Who's to say that it isnt like bob? ALIVE and what truly matters is /ownership/. That which owns it has its loyalty, so to speak.

I wouldn't say it is impossible. Even Intellectus has its gaps, though the wizardly hitman having a staff much like her favorite old walking stick could lead the supernaturally intelligent to figure it out for themselves. And who knows what kind of magic has been laid on the thing? It could naturally preclude information about itself being known elsewhere. People know of the title Blackstaff, know of his abilities... Doesn't mean they know about his beating stick. I would assume he ends most things who see him using it anyways.

[Ms Duck]

let me throw out an idea... what happened in the last few hundred years of import?

welll two things:

-the white got ascended to primacy/ started throwing its weight arround

- the human population exploded.

now heres the thought... Atropos/Death/Mother winter has had her power drasticaly curtailed in that time. Is this Jim's explantion for the human population growth?

And yes, I believe Morrigan- the sidhe war goddess- is one of Mab's names. Along with Lovitar, Gerda, Holda, Huldra and Perchta...

[Ezakra]

The Blackstaff has so many clues pointing at it that I have to go with it being the walking stick, besides, Eldest Gruff went to Harry's party in Arctis Tor with the stolen walking stick of MW? cannot see that happening.

MW has the power to get it back, surely, so there must be a compelling reason for it to remain where it is.  But we have WOJ that they stole the Blackstaff and the original owner wants it back, so that implies that the White council can keep one of the most powerfull artifacts of Faerie, use it at will, with little or no reprecussions? 

there is at least one other thread about the other names of MW, looks like I have to take my speculation about Annan back, thanks for the update Ms. Duck.

[Aakaakaak]

Odin/Santa Claus' staff was pretty snazzy and it could teleport whole groups of people to wherever he wanted. Mother Winter was having problems "getting around". Why does it have to be the Blackstaff?

Random alternate thought...
Could it be possible for Harry to create a second staff for Mother Winter using the branch from the oldest tree on Demonreach and infusing it with a lay line?

[loneiron]

As per the blackstaff... the WoJ says that they stole it from someone and they want it back, it never says that that person was the original owner. There is always the possibly that they don't actually know what they have, just that it suits them to keep it, instead of someone who would abuse its abilities.

[DragonEyes]

It's also possible that we are underestimating the White council by basing our opinions of them on a young, outcast member of their society.

[wildone654]

I think a lot of you are underestimating the potential of mortal wizards.  I mean if kemmler can make even a being like Lab shudder at his mention, and the original Merlin can build a cage so powerful bob had no idea what it was (and its frikin sentient, and on a power level even with mab). Then one of them could have stolen Winters walking stick.  Besides, its not like they would have broken in and stolen it by brute force.  Merlin 1.0 stole the WC a nice little underground fortress on a wager.
Also bare in mind for all Mother Winters power, there are certain rules she has to live by.  She is also the furthest queen from the mortal world, and so it may stand to reason she has the least understanding of how mortals think.  All things a that could be used against her.

As for her not getting it back in the last 1000 years,  I'm sure she's just waiting for the right opertunity.  I don't think slate could have taken Eb no reason to think the last 3 or 4 black staffs where push overs either. 

What would be real interesting is if Harry where ordered to retrieve it.

[o_O]

Random alternate thought...
Could it be possible for Harry to create a second staff for Mother Winter using the branch from the oldest tree on Demonreach

I think that's /exactly/ what he's going to do.  Ley line?  Probably not.   Soulfire?  Possibly.

[Aakaakaak]

I think that's /exactly/ what he's going to do.  Ley line?  Probably not.   Soulfire?  Possibly.

IMO the lay line seems more like the current blackstaff. Remember in Changes when it was seeping into EB's veins when he was using it?

[o_O]

IMO the lay line seems more like the current blackstaff. Remember in Changes when it was seeping into EB's veins when he was using it?

Sure, but I'm thinking Harry won't want to make Blackstaff 2.0, he'll want to make Whitestaff 1.0.   

Symbolically it fits, since we then have an artifact that lets nominally "evil" creatures do overall good without losing "evil" aspect.   What better gift for MW?