Toot Toot and the dread cat Mister

[Ed0517]

The cold wouldn't bother Harry, he is the Winter Knight, besides this is the guy who took cold showers for years in his little basement apartment in the dead of winter in Chicago.

You know, those cold showers never made sense. You can get those little solar bags campers use to heat up at least a little water. Put it out the window with a line coming in. Thermal absorption is not high tech. Blowing out circuits can be done with an EMP, and maybe magic is similar. EMP won't do crap to the bags.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Easy enough to put a solar water heater on the Castle Roof, and have it backed onto the open air pizza oven he is going to have to build, for back up heating.

Stainless steel for the toilets make sense, the former occupants were big lads with a heavy meat and mead diet

[Mira]

You know, those cold showers never made sense. You can get those little solar bags campers use to heat up at least a little water. Put it out the window with a line coming in. Thermal absorption is not high tech. Blowing out circuits can be done with an EMP, and maybe magic is similar. EMP won't do crap to the bags.

No, it never did, especially when an old fashioned gas water heater was basically a pilot light and a valve.  What is more the likes of Thomas and other occasional guests would use it.  Especially in Molly's apartment he had hot water. 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

A lot of old gas heating systems are no longer considered ‘safe’ because of carbon monoxide build up or risk of explosion, so you can’t get them fitted anymore.

[Mira]

A lot of old gas heating systems are no longer considered ‘safe’ because of carbon monoxide build up or risk of explosion, so you can’t get them fitted anymore.

Perhaps, but didn't Harry have a gas cook stove?  I don't think it was a wood burning stove.  Also while you may not be able to get a new old fashioned water heater, but as long as the old one functioned, you could keep on using it.  So unless Harry's landlord decided to replace all the old water heaters in the building, it wasn't a problem.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

I believe he had a wood burning stove, Thomas ineptitude with it was only surpassed by Molly.

Saying that it’s old tech to have a back boiler running off such a stove.

[Ed0517]

I think Harry's old stove was wood, I think he mentioned the pixies bringing in wood for it too. Now, I think, he can do better, maybe have electricity. You could put most of the switching etc. in a tempest shielded area, and I would expect Marcone, considering his guests/allies, has done this. It will cost money, but Marcone had it, Harry did not . They developed this stuff to stop electromagnetic signals from getting out where they could be eavesdropped on, in even more paranoiac times, for Harry, it should stop his Murphyonic field from blowing stuff out.    Might even allow a PC for Bob, in a shielded room.

[Mira]

I know he mostly heated his apartment with a fireplace, but I don't remember a wood cook stove.. Harry never did much in the way of cooking.  I know he had a real "ice" box, but he didn't really need that either.  When I was in the Peace Corps years ago in Liberia, we used fridges that ran on kerosene, they worked fine and were safe.

[vincentric]

Harry's primary need here is money.

Molly's apartment has no issues with her(pre-Winter Lady) or Harry as guest post Skin Game. The Svartalves can build a modern lighting and heating system into the castle that won't be hexed accidentally from the inside and probably be immune to outside hexing.

It just takes money. The only other thing preventing it would be them knowing about Thomas and if that was the case they would have been more hostile at the end of Peace Talks.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

I am sure Lara can take the diamonds off Harry’s hands at a very reasonable price for Harry, although it will cost him one for the engagement ring. Which he will resent immensely.

He won’t therefore be cash poor, but unless he brings in materials via the Never Never the reconstruction is going to divert resources away from Harry no matter how much cash he has.

[Mira]

I am sure Lara can take the diamonds off Harry’s hands at a very reasonable price for Harry, although it will cost him one for the engagement ring. Which he will resent immensely.

He won’t therefore be cash poor, but unless he brings in materials via the Never Never the reconstruction is going to divert resources away from Harry no matter how much cash he has.

Mab thinks she has Harry by the short hairs, because of Murphy and Thomas he is vulnerable emotionally.. Actually Lara is also because of Thomas, I can see both of them coming to the same conclusion and turning on Mab, she won't like that.

[g33k]

Harry's primary need here is money.

Molly's apartment has no issues with her(pre-Winter Lady) or Harry as guest post Skin Game. The Svartalves can build a modern lighting and heating system into the castle that won't be hexed accidentally from the inside and probably be immune to outside hexing.

It just takes money. The only other thing preventing it would be them knowing about Thomas and if that was the case they would have been more hostile at the end of Peace Talks.

As of Skin Game & the box full of diamonds, Harry no longer has any real issue with money; he has, IIRC, something approximating a shoebox full of diamond, probabty 5-10 lbs (they're rocks, heavy).

They're probably worth about US$100million on the open market.  I doubt Harry can "openly" sell them to get "fair market value" but... the days of him having long-term worries about getting custom crafted "stuff" are over.

He just needs enough time to do it all; that's his new challenge.  He's still learning about the history of Demonreach & the runes / magic of the Well there (and now his castle!); about being Starborn & "stars & stones" &c; about the artifacts from Hades, about the Eye of Balor, etc.  So many opportunities, so many powers, but the challenges are coming fast&furious, too!  Who's got time to deal with lighting-contractors??!?

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Lara can purchase them for cash at a reasonable rate all in one go and as they are matched in size, perfect for gifts for her sisters, or to be made up into a tiara for the Queen of the White Court, for her wedding, to go with the engagement ring. The tiara will of course double as a weapon.

I am thinking platinum settings rather than silver. Very on brand for the White Court

Michael will be dealing with contractors BUT a large section of Chicago was destroyed manpower and resources will be in short supply, even with sufficient funds.

There is also the question of a dowry, the White Court is old fashioned. Harry really doesn’t need cash, but the Raith’s have a rather significant magical library. Lara can scan it in and give the hard copy books to Harry as a dowry, she loses nothing but Harry gains a major magical resource he would actually appreciate and need. It probably contains the worlds largest collection of books on sex magic, so Bob will be more than happy to catalogue them for Harry.

Harry is Mab’s retainer and marrying per her instruction, Mab therefore needs to settle on Harry sufficient largesse upon which to maintain his new household including arms men (the Sprites). Harry owns the only land he is interested in already, and coin he already has. Now in Battle Ground the Za Lords guards armour bore the Pizza S’press logo, Mab couldn’t use another’s sigil (it would be a falsehood) unless she has the right to use it. Ergo she owns Pizza S’Press by the time of Battle Ground (probably Molly’s doing) it would make sense for he to settle her ownership on Harry (note in The Good People they are called the Royal Guard) so her vassal can properly provide for his armsmen. Harry would truly be the Za-Lord, it becoming a formal title. We know from the published three pages of the Toot story there is a pizza supply problem. Is this the solution? Okay

[g33k]

Lara can purchase them for cash at a reasonable rate all in one go and as they are matched in size, perfect for gifts for her sisters, or to be made up into a tiara for the Queen of the White Court, for her wedding, to go with the engagement ring.

Princess.
Princess of the White Court (possibly "Crown Princess") under the White King, of course.

One must observe the proprieties, after all!
;-)

I'm sure Lara could muster the cash reasonably quickly... but I doubt she's actually liquid for $100M on a same-day transaction.  But honestly, I doubt Harry needs or wants that.

In fact, I doubt he'd want to sell more than a few at a time, ever.  Of course, it depends on what Jim wants Harry to want...

... There is also the question of a dowry, the White Court is old fashioned. Harry really doesn’t need cash, but the Raith’s have a rather significant magical library. Lara can scan it in and give the hard copy books to Harry as a dowry, she loses nothing but Harry gains a major magical resource he would actually appreciate and need. It probably contains the worlds largest collection of books on sex magic, so Bob will be more than happy to catalogue them for Harry. 

I honestly doubt that the Raith library has much (if any) info not already known to Bob!

OTOH, there may be some "interesting" illo's...
}:-D>
So, yeah:  I'm sure Bob would be happy to help!

And I think Harry likes to read -- to work with books & scrolls & such, to jot down notes & generally be "old fashioned" about such things -- so such a collection would likely be quite welcome.

It may be too big a project, though:  I doubt she'd trust the info to the average flunky to scan.  How would she cover security for the project?  I'm sure she realizes how much Harry would object to the traditional solution of "kill the craftsman to keep the secret", so...  Also:  I'm not sure how much she'd trust Harry with that much extra power!

But also:  I expect there's a LOT of interesting items in the Raith treasury (recall the personal-ward armbands used (and destroyed) in the Raith Deeps; I presume they have other items, too).  Lara could give Harry a flashy toy, something he'd like, and would uphold Raith honor in the matter (but wasn't quite so "weaponizable" as a vast magical library in the hands of an already-powerful wizard).

But, really... I am not at all clear that Lara is even in Harry's weight-class any more:

As "just" a wizard, he could defeat her; he knows enough about Whamps & Whampery, and he's STRONG (and stubborn).  As Winter Knight, he seems to be a match for her physically, both in straight-up fighting terms (he probably beats her, in fact) and in sexual terms (from the Raith Deeps, we saw Whampery ran to making the victims lean toward urgent sexuality & to submissiveness; but the Mantle probably entirely counters the "submissive" side of things -- Lara does not want to be corps-a-corps with the Winter Knight when he decides she's dangerous!).
 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

The Raith Library would also contain info on the origin of Whamps, Lara would have an ulterior motive in giving it to Harry, to cure Thomas. Bob can scan through the library far quicker than Harry can read, creating an index as he is going along.The additional knowledge will make him more powerful, as it would Harry. Harry doesn’t have access to the White Council library, but the Raith Library likely has more on Whamps and sex than the White Council. Bob is not known to anyone but Butters and the Alphas, and Cowl so Harry can weaponise such a library MUCH faster than anyone considers. Bob really needs to start embodying, he should be able to make a body out of ectoplasm, surrounding his sanctum, giving Butters a nerdy younger brother. He could become HEAD LIBRARIAN.

You just have dyslexics physically scan the books in to safeguard against the contents getting into the wrong hands (that’s a reason in universe for dyslexia, it creates a small population able to handle and guard magical books without succumbing to their contents, a sort of anti-Archive) actually given the Venators that really makes sense and Lara is a Venator. Dyslexic Librarian is not an oxymoron in the Dresdenverse.