new soulfire though

[toodeep]

It's been discussed before that using soulfire in the making of a magic object (like a wizards staff) is dangerous because then there is something out there that may actually work as a direct connection to you/your soul thaumaturgically.  But then on the flip side we hear that all the active einherjar are actually some form of necromancy combined with soulfire, which would seem to bear the same risk (if you're ballsy enough to try to make a thaumaturgical link with Odin).  So I've still been thinking about soulfire uses, and had one thought on a side effect.

1.  Wondered if it would work to imbue Harry's new home with soulfire as he reactivates the magic.  Bob once described it as using rebar in concrete to make the whole stronger than the sum of its parts.  It seems like buffing up your home defenses would be a great place to use it, and reasonably safe as well assuming the home defenses are significant enough.  I would love to see someone really lay siege to his castle sometime and see it just hold everything off thanks to soulfire being built in.

2.  Harry made the bear belt buckle that literally held magic/mana in it.  Wonder if he could make something similar to hold soulfire.  Probably would not be worth making considering the fear of losing it... but just wondering what could be done with it!

Then I had my side thought: Home is where the heart is.  Home is part of you, and the more it is really part of you, the more you are invested in it, the more of yourself you put into it, the stronger the threshold.  what if the threshold effect of homes is really a soulfire kind of effect?  Not everyone uses magic, but everyone has souls.  I wonder if homes of things without souls have thresholds?  That would ruin that idea, but I think it worth discussing.

[Snark Knight]

I wonder if homes of things without souls have thresholds?  That would ruin that idea, but I think it worth discussing.

I'd lean no on that. The framing was always for human homes. Near-human species like forest people or whampires might be able to form a threshold (though I'm not sure the latter have fixed built homes, and the latter would presumably form extremely weak thresholds unless they're an unusual personality like Thomas').

[toodeep]

I'm pretty sure Castle Wraith has a threshold that Harry mentions at one point, though mortals also seemed to live there, and Whampires do have souls (or else wizards couldn't soulgaze them), so that's nothing definitive.

[groinkick]

It's been discussed before that using soulfire in the making of a magic object (like a wizards staff) is dangerous because then there is something out there that may actually work as a direct connection to you/your soul thaumaturgically. 

And Harry used Soulfire to make Demonreach his........

[Mira]

And Harry used Soulfire to make Demonreach his........

Yes and no, he used a drop of Soulfire to strengthen his summons to call Alfred forth, but I don't know if you can call it using it to make it his.  After all it wasn't till he woke up at the end of Ghost Story that he realized what he had done made him Warden of the place.  He also used Soul Fire when he fought Shaggy on the island, but again at that point in time he had no clue he was now Warden, if he had, he could have easily have handled Shaggy with Alfred's help.

[groinkick]

Yes and no, he used a drop of Soulfire to strengthen his summons to call Alfred forth, but I don't know if you can call it using it to make it his.  After all it wasn't till he woke up at the end of Ghost Story that he realized what he had done made him Warden of the place.  He also used Soul Fire when he fought Shaggy on the island, but again at that point in time he had no clue he was now Warden, if he had, he could have easily have handled Shaggy with Alfred's help.

Using Soulfire against Shaggy isn't quite the same.  It was a spell fueled by Soulfire, but when he made the Island his dominion, he used Soulfire to do it.  Even the Gatekeeper used his magic eye to scan the Island, and looked at Harry saying "What have you done".  My guess is he can see Harry connected to the Island. 

[Mira]

Using Soulfire against Shaggy isn't quite the same.  It was a spell fueled by Soulfire, but when he made the Island his dominion, he used Soulfire to do it.  Even the Gatekeeper used his magic eye to scan the Island, and looked at Harry saying "What have you done".  My guess is he can see Harry connected to the Island.

I agree that Soul Fire sealed the deal, but when he did it, if I remember correctly is seemed like Harry was thinking short term not what it turned out to be.  Yes, Soul Fire made the island his, but that was more of an accident or a consequence of using it, not what he was aiming to do.  At that moment he was looking for any advantage he could use to protect Morgan..  Which confirms that Harry had no clue what that all meant, if he had, he could have used the island to advantage, like he did against Lara in Peace Talks.  So yes, Soul Fire was the clincher, but Harry wasn't using it at the time to gain control of the island.   That is how I remember it, have to do a reread, from Rashid's reaction when Harry told him and the entry in Eb's journal, it is pretty clear that Harry didn't understand the implications of what he had just done. 

[groinkick]

I agree that Soul Fire sealed the deal, but when he did it, if I remember correctly is seemed like Harry was thinking short term not what it turned out to be.  Yes, Soul Fire made the island his, but that was more of an accident or a consequence of using it, not what he was aiming to do.  At that moment he was looking for any advantage he could use to protect Morgan..  Which confirms that Harry had no clue what that all meant, if he had, he could have used the island to advantage, like he did against Lara in Peace Talks.  So yes, Soul Fire was the clincher, but Harry wasn't using it at the time to gain control of the island.   That is how I remember it, have to do a reread, from Rashid's reaction when Harry told him and the entry in Eb's journal, it is pretty clear that Harry didn't understand the implications of what he had just done.

Yeah that's what I'm saying.  I could be completely wrong but I think Harry using Soulfire on the Island was like him using it in an object (and the risks that can bring).  So Harry is connected to the Island on a deep level, all the way down to his very core. 

My opinion is it's a double edged sword.  I think that by connecting himself to the Island in that way it will allow him to use power off of the Island he didn't even know he has.  Drakul showed concern when Harry's Staff shown green light, I think that's meaningful. 

On the flip side his connection to the Island could mean that just as the Winter Knight Mantle can change him, so may his connection to the Island given enough time. 

[Ed0517]

Yes and no, he used a drop of Soulfire to strengthen his summons to call Alfred forth, but I don't know if you can call it using it to make it his.

I think the Soulfire there was like a flare pistol. He was trying to call Demonreach, and wanted to be sure he got his attention. A flare to say "Hey, look at me! Talk to me!" but Demonreach decides to ally or not.  Well, plus using soulfire says "I am not a chump!"

[Conspiracy Theorist]

You don’t use soulfire to imbue an artefact with power, for example Harry could use  soulfire to upgrade his duster, but doing so means his duster can be used against him if it fell into the wrong hands.

Better for a one time working such as the ice wall in BG when the spell dissipates so does the soulfire in it.

Harry is an artificer, so better to use soulfire to make something he could not otherwise make, but not use it to imbue it with power. He could use it to make a shield bracelet with the potential to be far more efficient and flexible than previous attempts by removing impurities and flaws from the metals, in a way not otherwise possible, for example, but only use his power in setting the spells on it. Imagine tiny shields of the purest gold, silver, copper etc with no impurities, no flaws, no tarnish, blank and ready to take a spell, because Harry cast them in molten form and used Soulfire to purify but not empower them.