Christmas Eve from JB's Twitter (no news, just fun)

[Arjan]

Jim wounded Karen like Michael for simmilar reasons, to take her out of action without killing her. She has a more supportive role now. I do not think she is going to die in this book.

[Dina]

I agree, but I suppose all is possible.

[morriswalters]

If you want to randomly speculate, this is almost certainly a callback to Summer Knight and the aftermath of Susan being bitten.

I’ve fallen apart before. I’ve let the madness have me.
But I was a father now.
I no longer had that luxury. Thank God.

[AndiSue]

As of Christmas Eve she would have just turned 12.
https://www.paranetonline.com/index.php/topic,1592.0.html

I didn't realize there is a thread here (I've posted in a thread with the same opening in the DF books section)

Someone please could remind me how old would Maggie be at the Christmas' Eve story?

I loved this story even when I am now really worried about PT. Thanks Jim!

[toodeep]

Thousands dead, but apparently not martial law in the US, or flaming destruction and prison for Dresden.  And for some reason he gets the weirgilt.

I'm thinking all the minor talents the Fomor have been collecting got killed. 

[Dina]

Thank you, Andi.

[Mr. Death]

I keep seeing this tossed around, so I'm gonna put this out there:

Molly's gift is not weregild.

Weregild is something you give to an enemy as recompense or restitution for killing one of their people -- in the original old-world laws, it was meant to make up for the loss of income and livelihood from the person's death.

Weregild would be, "I am responsible for the death of this person. Here is money that approximates what they were worth to you. Now we're even and you don't have to come for revenge against me."

Weregild is not healthcare or funeral costs.

[peregrine]

Also, we don't know how long it's been since the events so much of the immediate furor may have died down.  Plus, if Harry went all "Bianca's Mansion" on a highrise, that would be an incredible body count that doesn't lead to any exceptional police response.  I mean, hell, we didn't do martial law after 9/11, no need to assume even a major attack would lead to one here.

[Dina]

Ok, I will spoil the story, so don't read this if you haven't read it.

Murphy is alive. Why I know that? Because in the story there is no mention of Mister. And a Christmas story with a kid, a dog and Santa Claus would have welcome a cat. But Mister is not there. So where is he? I see two options. He is dead or he is with Murphy at her home. I refuse to consider option 1, so Murphy is alive, taking care of Mister.

[morriswalters]

I keep seeing this tossed around, so I'm gonna put this out there:

Molly's gift is not weregild.

Weregild is something you give to an enemy as recompense or restitution for killing one of their people -- in the original old-world laws, it was meant to make up for the loss of income and livelihood from the person's death.

Weregild would be, "I am responsible for the death of this person. Here is money that approximates what they were worth to you. Now we're even and you don't have to come for revenge against me."

Weregild is not healthcare or funeral costs.

Just out of curiosity, just what would you call it?

Also, we don't know how long it's been since the events so much of the immediate furor may have died down.

We can get close, between mid June and mid September of 2014.  The events of Cold Case take place before the release of Frozen which was 13th of Nov, 2013. And the events of Christmas Eve after the release.(Thank you to a beta reader named serack on Reddit for this timeline)  Skin Game takes place in late February and the events of Peace Talks are said to take place 5 months or so later.  And at the beginning Skin Game Harry says he has been on the Island a year. Accounting for slop I think that date is good.  Feel free to tell me I'm wrong.

Ok, I will spoil the story, so don't read this if you haven't read it.

Murphy is alive. Why I know that? Because in the story there is no mention of Mister. And a Christmas story with a kid, a dog and Santa Claus would have welcome a cat. But Mister is not there. So where is he? I see two options. He is dead or he is with Murphy at her home. I refuse to consider option 1, so Murphy is alive, taking care of Mister.

[Dina]

Serack! 

[Arjan]

I keep seeing this tossed around, so I'm gonna put this out there:

Molly's gift is not weregild.

Weregild is something you give to an enemy as recompense or restitution for killing one of their people -- in the original old-world laws, it was meant to make up for the loss of income and livelihood from the person's death.

Weregild would be, "I am responsible for the death of this person. Here is money that approximates what they were worth to you. Now we're even and you don't have to come for revenge against me."

Weregild is not healthcare or funeral costs.

Absolutely correct though I might add weregeld is not something the other party has to accept, it is a peace offering and as such can be refused.

It is more likely to be accepted if both families don’t want it to escalate into a feud but you can refuse and kill someone of the other family. Not necessarily the guy who killed your man but someone of equal value.

It is all about family.

[AndiSue]

Also, we don't know how long it's been since the events so much of the immediate furor may have died down.  Plus, if Harry went all "Bianca's Mansion" on a highrise, that would be an incredible body count that doesn't lead to any exceptional police response.  I mean, hell, we didn't do martial law after 9/11, no need to assume even a major attack would lead to one here.

Christmas Eve takes place about six months after Peace Talks (which takes place "a few months" after Skin Game). So late June/early July.

[Arjan]

Just out of curiosity, just what would you call it?

A Christmas present.

Harry is Molly’s vassal and so she can give Harry things and by giving it to Harry and in Harry’s name she prevents fairy entanglements associated with the gift. It is a gift to reduce Harry’s pain.

By calling it weregeld you add meaning to it. Generosity from the liege to retainers is actually something that is praised in old heroic poetry.

We can get close, between mid June and mid September of 2014.  The events of Cold Case take place before the release of Frozen which was 13th of Nov, 2013. And the events of Christmas Eve after the release.(Thank you to a beta reader named serack on Reddit for this timeline)  Skin Game takes place in late February and the events of Peace Talks are said to take place 5 months or so later.  And at the beginning Skin Game Harry says he has been on the Island a year. Accounting for slop I think that date is good.  Feel free to tell me I'm wrong.

[Dina]

I know nothing about War rules but the impression I got is not that Harry has to pay anything. Only that the idea of the victims' families having to pay for their recovery or funerals was another thing adding stress and guilt to Harry. Molly helped him at least by easing that pain.