186000 miles per second: it's the Law! 55mph? pshaw!

[Mr. Death]

I imagine detecting black magic is a lot like, say, detecting if someone has a gun. If they're not using it, and you aren't looking for it, you're not going to see it.

If they're not using it, but you're searching them for it, you can find it if you know what you're doing.

If they are using it right now, it's big and obvious to anyone who has the senses to detect it.

And if they just used it, there will be lingering signs on them (the smell of gunpowder, etc.)

And places it's been used recently will retain evidence of it for a little while (bulletholes, casings, bodies).

[narphoenix]

I imagine detecting black magic is a lot like, say, detecting if someone has a gun. If they're not using it, and you aren't looking for it, you're not going to see it.

If they're not using it, but you're searching them for it, you can find it if you know what you're doing.

If they are using it right now, it's big and obvious to anyone who has the senses to detect it.

And if they just used it, there will be lingering signs on them (the smell of gunpowder, etc.)

And places it's been used recently will retain evidence of it for a little while (bulletholes, casings, bodies).

This. I agree with this.

[g33k]

And to continue the simile... one could use the magical equivalent of caseless ammo (no brass left behind), silencers & flash-suppression, firing from coat-pockets or camouflage, etc; all to reduce the magically-detectable signs of Black Magic.

And presumably, techniques to 'clean' a Lawbreaking site (a la mafiosa / black-ops "cleaning service") also can be used.

Interesting...

Not sure -- from a dramatic/flavor standpoint -- if I actually LIKE having the parallels be too strong.  Turns "magic" into narrative "alterna-tech," rather than... well... MAGIC.  Clarke was wrong, dammit!   

But still... definitely grist for the mill!

[Mr. Death]

And to continue the simile... one could use the magical equivalent of caseless ammo (no brass left behind), silencers & flash-suppression, firing from coat-pockets or camouflage, etc; all to reduce the magically-detectable signs of Black Magic.

And presumably, techniques to 'clean' a Lawbreaking site (a la mafiosa / black-ops "cleaning service") also can be used.

Indeed they can--the Denarians wiped their prints off the big spell they used to grab Marcone in Small Favor, for instance. Presumably a sunrise and running water would also do the trick.

[g33k]

Indeed they can--the Denarians wiped their prints off the big spell they used to grab Marcone in Small Favor, for instance. Presumably a sunrise and running water would also do the trick.

I tend to presume that the Denarians have Extraordinary Means for concealing their actions.  The whole "Prince of Lies" schtick, y'know?  Deceit *is* their essence; they can do things that mortal practitioners cannot -- mortal means are among their bag of tricks, but they can do far more, in this regard.

Outsiders also seem (much!) harder to spot than many other supernaturals... that one I put down to their Extreme Other-ness that seems to make them generally-resistant-to-magic (including magic that spots their magical traces).

Running water, sunrise, etc ... kinda/sorta.  Darksome places/items/what-have-you can retain that "taint" through multiple sunrises.  Yeah, a specific magical working may be vulnerable to being dispersed, but the taint of evil still may linger.

[Locnil]

OK, thanks!  Can you point me to that WoJ?

I recall the execution from the beginning of Proven Guilty, where soulgaze was mentioned as a key bit of evidence.  Granted, this was an instance of "black magic is so extreme you probably don't need it anyway."  But if it's not really needed... why bother?  Who wants to muck around in such a black soul???  You Denarians over in the corner, don't bother answering!  Later in PG, Harry 'gaze's Molly, and sees Warlock-Molly as a possible future, so the potential IS visible...  I can see that it may not be "surefire" -- particularly if it's a senior wizard, who might have the discipline to hide stuff from the person 'gazing them -- but it is (at the least) "very useful."

My point on this is that the WCouncil -- and "good" wizards in general -- seem to have quite a panoply of "Dark Detectors" available to them.  Soulgaze, Mai's stone guard-dogs, genuine Temple dogs... in addition to what we've seen, we should probably presume other methods, which are off-stage (either not-yet-invented by Mr. Butcher, or intentionally not used) so far.  The sum of all these methods would seem to make it incredibly-unlikely for a Lawbreaker to hide for long (if they don't get Soulgazed, they get sniffed by a Stone Dog, or caught some other way) had led me to believe that there must be some way for Lawbreakers to intentionally hide their status (at least from other Wizards).

Bit late, but since I'm here I should probably address this.

While I'm still sure that there is such a WoJ, I have been unable to find it thus far, despite my best efforts. I asked Serack for help but he hasn't replied yet, so... yeah, consider this unconfirmed.

[Serack]

Bit late, but since I'm here I should probably address this.

While I'm still sure that there is such a WoJ, I have been unable to find it thus far, despite my best efforts. I asked Serack for help but he hasn't replied yet, so... yeah, consider this unconfirmed.

Sorry I couldn't find it either.  I don't have about a 3rd of the GS WoJ's or most of the WoJ's after that collated though, so it's possible that it's out there and I don't have it easily at hand.

By the way, you're better off asking me for WoJ's within your discussion.  I /will/ notice, and that gives me context, and more motivation to answer even if it's with an IDK

[Locnil]

Ah, well. Thanks all the same, Serack.