A Fistful of Warlocks (SPOILERS: FISTFUL OF WARLOCKS)

[Snark Knight]

I have not read the story yet.
That being said, does it mention Hogs Hollow?  Is it possible that this trip to the West is when Eb discovered where he ends up settling down on his farm?

He doesn't appear directly. Luccio just alludes to him being the current Captain at the time and some of his warlock-hunting exploits.

[Serack]

Hmm. By the turn of the Century, McCoy doesn't seem to be a Warden any more, according to the letters he and Pietrovitch wrote to each other.
In 1889 McCoy says that Pietrovich isn't under investigation, and in 1902 he says that he isn't speaking in official capacity. But that might be Blackstaff McCoy speaking, and not Warden McCoy.
But there are absolutely no mentions of him being Captain McCoy, which I feel would be relevant.

So it seems to me McCoy laid down the cloak and picked up the staff as part of the same general event.

I feel like I'm missing something here, and I didn't know that was even possible unless possibly it's from one of the graphic novels...

[Firnatine34]

I dug it. It's a little predictable (No more than you'd expect from a prequel story.)  Luccio is a bad ass, I always love getting another creature featured, and the idea of her very famous team up buddy being a venator was pretty cool.

A hell of a story for a mere 50 pages. I want to see more of her opposition. We didn't get to see him use his magic. The ending says there's more story to tell.

Here's hoping for A Few Warlocks More...

[knnn]

I feel like I'm missing something here, and I didn't know that was even possible unless possibly it's from one of the graphic novels...

It's from the supplement to the DFRPG.   There's a whole section on the Russian Revolution and Simon Pietrovich.   A nice chuck of it is correspondence between Simon and Ebenezer (who is the Blackstaff).   The latter is warning him not to use magic to help the Tsar.

[LordDresden2]

But hasn't it been stated that if someone uses a blast of wind or force to knock someone back, and they fall off a roof, it's still a violation of the 1st Law?

Honestly?  It depends on who does it, why he did it, and the details.  The Council will make distinctions in the grey areas.  For ex, if a junior Wizard used magic to immobilize someone and then shot them while immobilized, and he couldn't shoot them any other way, yeah, Langtry would call for his death...unless it was clear that catastrophe was prevented, say.

But the Council did pretty much exactly that to Kemmler.  They rendered him physically helpless and held him that way using magic, then used mundane weapons to kill him, thus avoiding a direct First Law violation.

I would imagine the Wardens get a lot more leeway on that than most Wizards.

[Rasins]

Let's look at a similar situation.

Harry walks in and uses his little candle lighting spell to light a bunch of candles.

Then, one gets knocked over.

The place burns down and kill some mortals.

Harry is TECHNICALLY guilty of murder, but there would be no council, or cosmic consequences.

[Snark Knight]

I dug it. It's a little predictable (No more than you'd expect from a prequel story.)  Luccio is a bad ass, I always love getting another creature featured

The idea of using something as a horse that's, mythologically speaking, a close cousin to Jenny Greenteeth was just ... disturbing...

[Seidmadr]

The idea of using something as a horse that's, mythologically speaking, a close cousin to Jenny Greenteeth was just ... disturbing...

I'm just disappointed she didn't bribe it with hard liquor. That's the traditional way to make a deal with them.
Can give you the ability to become a supernaturally good fiddler.

[Aminar]

Let's look at a similar situation.

Harry walks in and uses his little candle lighting spell to light a bunch of candles.

Then, one gets knocked over.

The place burns down and kill some mortals.

Harry is TECHNICALLY guilty of murder, but there would be no council, or cosmic consequences.

I find that ridiculous and unlikely. There comes a point where the magical fire becomes the same as regular fire. At the same time if Little Chicago exploded while Harry was gone and his landlady died I'd see that as a violation due to the increased negligence involved. But it sounds more like the ward issue(both do.)

[Rasins]

Yet Jim said that the candle situation would count.

SHECKY - can you find the WoJ on this? - thanks.

[Anubissama]

First impressions after reading it:

I liked it, I prefer a logical and reasonable protagonist, so Luccio's POV was a nice change compared to Dresden. Overall it was as enjoyable as one can expect from a short story, and I hope we will get "For A Few Warlocks More" soon enough.

I'd have liked to see a bit more talk from Kemmler, he seemed like a nice guy.

Now on to observations and problems:

- Anyone else notices that the pentagram the Necromancers were using was of the same design Nicodemus used in "Small Favour"? Is it just coincident? It might be just the go to pentagram for Warlocks, or maybe it is hinting at a connection?

- I see many people have a problem with Luccio considering burning down the place, I don't really agree.

First off it would probably fall under not breaking the Law since once summoned fire is fire, so it would be vanilla arson that killed people not Law braking here.

Besides Luccio had a good take on the Warlocks position (upstairs) and where the rest of the people are (downstairs) so evacuating them and avoiding causalities was possible IMO, also I think it is implied that the Wardens have a certain immunity when fulfilling their duties, they definitely don't get beheaded if a Warlock dies resisting arrest.

- Oh my god! Magical Glasses! I have been saying for years Dresden should get something like that

- It honestly feels a bit unrealistic that a vanilla sheriff can shoot down a 40+ sized horde of the Undead, especially with Wild West era weapons, those things weren't known for range and precision. Did they had even rifling back then?

- While I understand sending the bulk of you forces to the Sherif Office it feels unrealistic that Grevane wouldn't keep a few undead on the roof

- It is also odd that an experienced Wizard like Kemmler would leave blood and skin on his bonds when escaping, a quick fire spell to burn the ropes was too much of a hassle? Feels like an obvious trap.

[Mira]

Just a WAG, but ...... Possible identities..

Grevane is Kemmler's disciple, he is at first called the "British Guy" in the story.  So who is this guy?  He escaped with Kemmler,  what happened to him?  We know what happened to Kemmler eventually, but not Grevane..  The first thought that came into my head is he might be the person/creature with the British accent napping in crystal that Harry was talking to on Demonreach in Skin Game..  The other possibility and a very strong one at that, is he is Cowl..  Disciple of Kemmler, his apprentice you might say, it fits very well. 

[knnn]

Grevane is one of the (non-Cowl) necromancers that Harry faces in Dead Beat.   IIRC , Ramirez shoots him.

[Mira]

Grevane is one of the (non-Cowl) necromancers that Harry faces in Dead Beat.   IIRC , Ramirez shoots him.

You're right, my bad....

[Snark Knight]

Besides Luccio had a good take on the Warlocks position (upstairs) and where the rest of the people are (downstairs) so evacuating them and avoiding causalities was possible IMO, also I think it is implied that the Wardens have a certain immunity when fulfilling their duties, they definitely don't get beheaded if a Warlock dies resisting arrest.

For one thing, I don't think she was anywhere near confident that there was nobody else out of sight on the second floor.