I would think it would be possible to create a portal. The gates are in the Never Never and so I assume the Outside is also part of the Never Never, thus you just need to create a portal to the Never Never.
Anything is possible with enough magic. Jim said once that if a being had enough power the only limit would be their imagination, they could rewrite the rules.
That being said, I suspect that no immortal being could simply open a portal as they like to the Outside. It's more than a matter of simple raw strength or knowledge, it requires a choice. An act of mortal will. From what I can see that kind of choice is only available to mortals. We know that mortal will and choice are extremely powerful, they change reality and create new universes (and possibly other things). I haven't yet seen or heard of immortals doing any such thing, even if they had the power.
But any such being could always have mortal servants do it for them. What's interesting to me is that even when we see multiple Outsiders we have yet to see how they are summoned. And only occasionally we have seen more than a few. Especially the bigger ones like the Walkers. Why haven't we seen any mortal open up a major gate and let a horde of them in? Or even a Outer God etc? Perhaps it's impossible to keep a gate open for too long, especially a big gate. Perhaps the magic cost is too great or it damages the human summoner. Perhaps Mordite would seep through and start killing everything. Perhaps certain groups shut down such attempts quickly. Food for thought.
They won't happen because they're just too powerful against humans unfortunately.
As for Cowl teleporting, it's either that or a really quick hop into the NN.
Indeed...but maybe toward the end we will see such things. I am pretty sure Cowl just opened a Way into the Nevernever. I could be wrong but that's how I read it, and it seemed consistent with his style of opening Ways. Particularly the mildew smell and lightless waters stuff.
There seems to be some limitation with outsiders. It is mentioned several times that only humans can summon them. If Maeve could have created that gate she would have done so.
Also it would be too easy to end the world that way, some crazy god would have done so already.
Agreed. If it were so easy the battle would already be lost. No, I think it is as you say, it takes a mortal to summon Outsiders.
She was pretty good at it. But I don't think it matters. Cowl would not be the first wizard to accomplish this. It was just a long time ago. I think the restriction comes with the power. I believe there is woj that the erlking became who he is by such a ritual.
And Cowl would not be mortal anymore either. If he gathered enough power. That is the whole point.
They can summon them which is bad enough but a gate at a quiet place means they can stream in. That would be the end of reality as we know it. The council can never catch all warlocks and outsiders have internal support. If a warlock like cowl could do such a thing it would already be over. No gates.
With that much power you loose your free will. I think that has something to do with the ability to summon outsiders.
Agreed. It's been hinted, actually stated I think, that mortals have become gods before. The graphic novel "Welcome to the Jungle" covers this a bit. That being said there are discrepancies. Jim has said that the Erlking and Hecate etc got big by doing such rituals. On the other hand, most recently he came out and said the gods existed before time. I am sure he will fill in some of the gaps soon but it is an issue currently.
Cowl wanted power over being mortal because he, like most mortals, perceives that to be a limitation. And in many ways it is. But I suspect even Cowl didn't fully appreciate what he would be losing, and how his new limits would make him weaker in some ways. Less able to change things in certain but important ways.
Agreed. Clearly it isn't the easiest thing to whistle up an army of Outsiders. The fact that there is one big gate way out in the farthest reaches of reality says a lot about that.
Yes, the recurring theme is that more power equals less freedom. Even if from the outside it might not look that way. What it means fundamentally to be mortal would be lost. Mab even hints at this in Battle Ground when she reminds Dresden that immortality is no substitute for intelligence.
Maeve to our knowledge was never a wizard, and the Mantle of Lady isn't a mortal one.
Uh yeah that's why dark wizards are beheaded the instant they cause trouble. Jim even said that the danger of warlocks is they can let Outsiders in.
It could be that Cowl would no longer be mortal and have some sort of restraint locked onto his abilities, but I don't know. I think that's what is so frightening about a successful Dark Hollow. The freedom of a mortal with the powers of an evil god.
True, it doesn't seem like Maeve was a mortal wizard. However, the Fae have a slightly different relationship with magic to mortals. Closer to the Forest People etc. So even before she was Winter Lady she was a changeling Fae and I don't doubt she had some magical abilities. Once she had chosen to be Fae I think she would have lost that little last remaining bit of mortality and with it, the potential to summon Outsiders.
I am not sure I am convinced that the Darkhallow would allow the successful user to become immortal yet retain Free Will. The recurring theme is that more power equals less freedom. Cowl would have effectively sacrificed his mortality in order to become immortal. Literally, not-mortal. All the benefits of being mortal would have been lost. But Cowl would have become immortal, effectively unkillable, and incredibly powerful and knowledgeable. So it's a trade off.
I think the restraint on immortals is that they are stasis locked. Fixed points. Fixed ideas. They no longer have the ability to change easily. And if they cannot change themselves, they cannot change the world around them (in a really meaningful way). That's why Halloween and such conjunctions are such a big deal. It allows immortals to be mortal while on Earth. I think Vadderung worked out the advantage to that too. He can change himself which allows him to change the world. Perhaps, on Halloween, God-Cowl could have summoned Outsiders. Perhaps that is what Kemmler would have tried to do right before the Council killed him. But most other times and places, I suspect immortals are not able to do that.
Ethniu lost due to several factors in my opinion. First being her anger, while anger might fuel the Eye, angry people don't always think clearly, plan, or think long term.. So she made missteps simply because she was pissed. She was over confident, and the Fomor didn't disabuse her of that feeling, so she committed the cardinal sin of under estimating her opponents. Third, though she was strong, she didn't strike me as being overly bright.. So yes, compared to Ethniu can see Cowl being as strong or stronger.
That's fair. I think her rage and emotions definitely cost her even though as you point out, it fuelled some of her power and weapons. This is explored a bit with the Hellfire thing. Harry was stronger with Hellfire but he wasn't as deadly or focussed. Look how Hannah Ascher got beaten. I doubt the Fomor would have dared to comment on her rage. Even Listen wouldn't have been that bold.
God-Cowl would have been the bigger threat for all those reasons. Arguably even current mortal Cowl is more of a threat. Just as Nicodemus in some ways is a bigger threat than Lucifer.
But do you think that God-Cowl would have had as much or more magical muscle as Ethniu? Forget the tactics and issues for a moment, from a purely raw magical strength sense, how would you compare them Mira?
