CD Spoilers: The Case of the Stolen Walking Stick

[Aakaakaak]

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.

Do you really think Momma Freeze would accept a soulstaff instead of a bl....oh hey... Could you imagine what Mother Winter could do with just a little bit of soul? (other than dance)

[o_O]

Could you imagine what Mother Winter could do with just a little bit of soul? (other than dance)

See her job as finished and pass the teeth to the next holder?   Foreshadow her own death just like Eb is foreshadowing his when using the Blackstaff? 

(No I didn't miss the obvious danger to Harry himself)


Good point, btw.   We have not really seen any dance magic in the series.

[Aakaakaak]

Good point, btw.   We have not really seen any dance magic in the series.

In the beginning of CD Harry's birthday party had plenty of magical fae dancing. And Mab flexed her knowledge of Harry by waltzing with him. (Was it a waltz?) But more would always be better as long as it's not in the form of a "dance off".

[o_O]

In the beginning of CD Harry's birthday party had plenty of magical fae dancing.

Not as a coherent magic-casting except perhaps that of a glamour-type dulling of alert senses.

And Mab flexed her knowledge of Harry by waltzing with him. (Was it a waltz?)

But what did the dance itself accomplish magically?

[Aakaakaak]

But what did the dance itself accomplish magically?

Reinforcement of power, control, knowledge and dominance over Harry. Mab knows his deepest darkest secrets, even that he can't dance to anything but ballroom.

[o_O]

Reinforcement of power, control, knowledge and dominance over Harry.

I see nothing there that is fundamentally magical, unless we start calling applied psychology "fancified shamanism".

[Arjan]

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

Mussorgsky, pictures of an exhibition. First time I heard the name.

[wizard nelson]

Q:  Can you tell us a little more about the black staff?
A:   The staff keeps Eb from going crazy, mostly.  Also, the White Council stole it from someone.  And they really want it back.
this is from the word of jim, practically confirms the origins of the blackstaff. an why motherwinters a lil loony.

[Ms Duck]

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?

Odin's staff was actually his spear,Gungir. its pretty dang famous in its own right. up there with thor's hammer.

[Raptor]

Random Thought: I wonder if Mother Winter losing her walking stick is related to the increase in human longevity and rise in population? I doubt she lost her walking stick and immediately became a homebody. She probably slowed down over the centuries.

If she's "Death", and isn't getting out as much as she used to, could be related. Don't think it really means anything. Just a thought.

[King Ash]

Random Thought: I wonder if Mother Winter losing her walking stick is related to the increase in human longevity and rise in population? I doubt she lost her walking stick and immediately became a homebody. She probably slowed down over the centuries.

If she's "Death", and isn't getting out as much as she used to, could be related. Don't think it really means anything. Just a thought.

According to Harry no one is sure if Death exists as an entity or not.

[Elegast]

If she's "Death", and isn't getting out as much as she used to, could be related. Don't think it really means anything. Just a thought.

I believe she's Death. She already look very close to the grim reaper in her "Mother Winter" mask, when she uses her aspect (like Mab did in CD), she becomes Death. And the Blackstaff is a scythe:

Then he swept the Blackstaff from left to right, murmured a word, and ripped the life from a hundred men.
They just . . . died.
There was absolutely nothing to mark their deaths. No sign of pain. No struggle. No convulsion of muscles. No reaction at all. One moment they were firing wildly down at us—and the next, they simply—
Dropped.
Dead.
The old man turned to the other wall, and I saw two or three of the brighter soldiers throw their guns down and run. I don’t know if they made it, but the old man swept the Blackstaff through the air again, and the gunmen on that side of the field dropped dead where they stood.
My godmother watched it happen, and bounced and clapped her hands some more, as delighted as a child at the circus.
I stared for a second, shocked. Ebenezar had just shattered the First Law of Magic: Thou shalt not kill. He had used magic to directly end the life of another human being—nearly two hundred times. I mean, yes, I had known what his office allowed him to do. . . . But there was a big difference between appreciating a fact and seeing that terrible truth in motion.
The Blackstaff itself pulsed and shimmered with shadowy power, and I got the sudden sense that the thing was alive, that it knew its purpose and wanted nothing more than to be used, as often and as spectacularly as possible.

And I also believe that the case for the Raven Banner is strong, as the Raven was the symbol of death in Celtic lore. Consider this quote:

According to the Orkneyinga Saga, it was made for Sigurd the Stout by his mother, a völva or sorceress. She told him that the banner would "bring victory to the man it's carried before, but death to the one who carries it."

Looks similar to the way the staff was swallowing Eb's lifeforce:

I also saw veins of venomous black begin to ooze their way over the old man’s hand, reaching up slowly, spreading to his wrist. He grimaced and held his left forearm with his right hand for a moment, then looked over his shoulder and said, “All right!”

[Raptor]

According to Harry no one is sure if Death exists as an entity or not.

Mother Winter's own words:

"...It is what I am. The Unmaker, The Destroyer"

.

I'm not saying that she IS Death (you can tell because she doesn't speak in small caps*), but if The Mothers are or were 2 of the 3 Fates, My guess is that Mother Winter was the one who cut your lifeline (partial WOJ mentioning Mother Summer's roommate getting her shears)

If she has been getting out less and less, it could be related to the increase in human longevity.

[Elegast]

Mother Winter's own words: .

I'm not saying that she IS Death (you can tell because she doesn't speak in small caps*), but if The Mothers are or were 2 of the 3 Fates, My guess is that Mother Winter was the one who cut your lifeline (partial WOJ mentioning Mother Summer's roommate getting her shears)

If she has been getting out less and less, it could be related to the increase in human longevity.

She IS death, but she has several aspects, as many heavy-hitters do. Like Odin is also Santa.

[o_O]

Mussorgsky, pictures of an exhibition. First time I heard the name.

For some reason this post makes me think that we totally need a scene where Death (or Mother Winter in proper aspect if you like) fiddles away at Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre.       With rooster crow at daylight.