Seeing as most people today don't believe in the supernatural; or at least don't believe in most of the older supernatural pantheons, the most likely people to seek out these kinds of deals would have been war lords of ancient times up until several hundred years ago.

Take for example the Merovingian King Clovis I; who is historically important because while conquering Gaul in the 6th century, he converted to Nicene Christianity and doing so got the Frank tribes he led to do the same thing.  If you read his conversion story, it is not inspirational or have any feeling of being a miracle.  It reads like someone who took the Pepsi challenge and decided that Pepsi does taste better than Coca-Cola. 

Clovis was in a battle with a rival and was losing and is reported by his biographer Gregory of Tours to have said something like this: "Jesus, I know of you." (Clovis wife Clotilda had already converted and Clovis wasn't happy about that.  She was the only person who would stand up to Clovis that he would not kill, because he was known for killing anyone else who did so.)  "My gods are letting me down.  If you can do better, I will follow you and make my people do the same." (I'm heavily paraphrasing here.)  Right about then an arrow or spear hit the enemy leader in the head and killed him outright, leading to an instant victory for Clovis as the enemy forces; seeing their leader fall, fled the field.

In a Dresden Files universe you could easily see someone like Clovis; instead of being converted to Christianity (Sort of, he was still an unpredictable and extremely dangerous man who killed most of his family, except his wife and children.) making a deal with Odin or any other supernatural heavy hitter who has an interest in humanity. 

The thing is, there have been many, many kings and rulers and a lot more petty warlords who aspired rule their own kingdom.  So, the real question is, why would Odin or any supernatural being like Mab want to back any particular mortal?  It would have to be someone who could push the agenda of that supernatural being and be in the right place and time to do so. 

So, maybe not very many rulers or would be rulers would have had the potential that Mab, Odin or any other big supernatural player, would have wanted, to make the kind of difference they desired.  A lot of those who tried to make deals might have ended like the trumpet player in Summer Knight, who told Maeve that he would die in order to play a great solo.  Remember, he played the solo and he then died.  These type of leaders and wouldbe leaders would have just been play things for much of the supernatural world.       

 

Unless Harry looked into a mirror while using his Sight, there is no way he should know what the sign of HWWB looks like or that he even carries it.  I picture Harry learning about it in one of two, maybe three ways, the last one being the most likely one.

1. Lea might have mentioned it as part of her pitch to 16 year-old Harry to get him to make a deal with her.  She could have said something like this:  "I see the mark of HWWB; the demon that was called up by Justin DuMorne, is upon you.  That you survived meeting this creature is impressive..."  My guess is Lea would see that mark every time she saw Harry.  She doesn't need to call up a special power like wizards do.

2. Justin DuMorne might have mentioned it to Harry before their final fight.  It could have sounded something like this:  "I see you have met HWWB.  His mark is upon you."  The problem with this scenario is Justin would have to have been using his Sight when he was looking at Harry, and I can't think why he would want to do that.

3. Warden Morgan used to use his Sight on Harry after Harry was captured by the Wardens or just by Morgan.  While Harry was bound he overheard Morgan describe the mark and name HWWB.  Did anyone else on the Council use their wizard sight to look on Harrry.?  Hard to say, but I don't see why anyone else would do that, except perhaps Ebenezar.

This scenario fits in nicely with Morgan using his Site to check for possible spies hiding under a veil at Mac's in Dead Beat, but avoiding looking at Harry while do so.  Morgan wouldn't want to see that mark again if he could simply ignore looking at it.   

But doesn't change the fact that that they kill humans to survive.

I think the Hunger Demon does fully dominate their host. Why? Because once the Hunger Demon has fully established itself, the host needs to feed it, i.e. usually kill, to survive.  Remember how Lara and later Thomas talked after the Skin Walker was finished with him, they enjoy it..  There is another side to the strength that the host gains from the Hunger Demon, power.  That is the most addictive power on earth..  Maybe because he was Margaret's son, Thomas never quite got to that point, he never was interested in empire building unlike his sister, Lara, who clearly is.

Yes, but I'm not implying that the human side of a White Court vamp is morally superior to the demon within it; and Thomas is an outlier, the human side is almost always corrupted by the drives of the demon and its need to feed.  What I am saying is that the human need to socialize and the desire of the host to fit in with uncorrupted humans to ensure its own safety, ends up deflecting the goals of the demon from shear destruction into something that seeks to protect humanity in general, if only for its own selfish ends. 

The corrupted human part of a White Court vampire who cannot love another or is afraid to try to do so because love is literal poison to them, can be likened to a psychopath or someone with narcissistic personality disorder, someone who lacks empathy for other people.  Though I suspect that Jim would say my comparison falls short or misses the mark in some key way.  None the less, a vanilla person like the types I named above will often try to fill up the empty space within them with sensation seeking, material possessions or building up an empire of some sort, perhaps in business or politics. 

And empire building is the opposite of what Outsiders want to achieve.  The want to destroy human order of any kind, even the morally decadent and corrupted civilization the White Court would create.   

I think the answer is whatever process or tainted item was used to nemfect Elaine wasn’t introduced or occur until the day she stayed home sick while Harry went to school. (Info taken from Harry’s discussion with Lea in Ghost Story.) It is also possible Justin did something to Elaine the day before but it didn’t take old until the next morning.

So, Harry and Elaine may have soulgazed days, weeks or even a couple of months earlier.  In theory, Elaine and Harry could have soulgazed on a Sunday morning, then Justin did whatever was needed to infect Elaine that afternoon or night, and the next day when Harry came back early from school, he found Justin with a nemfected Elaine.

What I am wondering is there a connection between Nemesis and the Hunger Demon?  Did Margaret come to realize this?  Is this why she was compelled to conceive a star child with Malcolm? Is this to the key of while she couldn't kill Lord Raith outright with her death curse, perhaps she could damage the Hunger Demon? 

Like there is a connection between the Black Court and Outsiders?  That is an interesting thought.  You might be on to something.

However, Mavra mentioned something in Battle Ground about "ruling in the rubble" following the Stars and Stones.  Whatever the exact quote is, it isn't important as much as it tells us the Black Court has a long-term plan and because the Black Court is connected in someway to the Outsiders their plan is most likely tied into Outsider goals.

So far, we haven't seen that kind of end-game thinking from the White Court yet, other than Lara knowing about Nemesis. That could be because Lord Raith has been effectively if temporarily put on the sideline or permanently lobotomized.  If he was still in power, perhaps Lord Raith would have revealed his endgame plan for the White Court. 

What bothers about this line of thinking is, the White Court seems to thrive with civilization.  I'm not seeing a strong motivation to see mortal civilization torn apart.  While the Black Court could benefit from some kind of post apocalyptic world.

In the end, this doesn't nullify your thinking.  One way to explain it is unintended consequences.  The Outsiders are so different from our world they can't anticipate everything.  Maybe there is a connection between Outsiders and the White Court Hunger Demon, but the Outsiders couldn't have known that their creation or one-time close ally would eventually have a strong reason to oppose them.   

 

Just what Harry needs:  a Seventh Law violation to make his Council troubles worse. 

(Somehow I missed this comment before.)  You are not wrong, but isn't it almost inevitable?  Not in the next couple of books but almost certainly in the BAT?