04-15-2018, 01:02 PM
The Omniverse was full of rumors and legends. Harry Dresden, himself, occasionally spent some time as the subject of the former, between his work with the Death Mountain assault, a decent showing in Dante's Abyss, and a couple other things, which proved that occasionally the rumor mill could be relied upon for accurate information. In this case, the rumor that had brought Harry to Carrefore and gotten him onto a train to the Town with No Name was a tale of a mystic oasis hidden in the Dunes. According to that rumor, anyone who drinks from this hidden oasis is forced to confront themselves in some manner. From there, each individual account changes drastically as a result of the nature of rumors; some said anyone who drank it would confront an evil version of themselves, others said it was what you aspired to become, and still others that you had to confront the parts of yourself you most feared, and no amount of research would substitute for actually finding the oasis. Harry wouldn't be interested, save for a small glimmer of hope that flickered across his mind as he asked the residents of Carrefore what they'd heard about the Spirit Oasis.
The Winter Mantle was part of him, and yet at the same time, it was not. He couldn't afford to purge it from himself completely, though he didn't doubt that someone in the Omniverse knew how to do that, or that he could devise a way himself with thaumaturgy and Omnilium, especially without Mab there to punish him for the audacity of such an attempt. It was simply too useful, in this cruel and violent world, to be able to tap the power and instincts of a Mantle that had more experience than any mortal in the ways of cruelty and violence. The Spirit Oasis, however, didn't sound like it would strip anything away from Harry, not if the rumors were anywhere near accurate, and there was a chance, a better than average one, that he could use the magic of the waters to confront the Mantle and make it submit to him, make it stop whispering and goading him. That push, the constant nudging towards greed and violence and just taking what he wanted, whether that be food or goods or even people, it would drive him mad if he couldn't master it, and Harry Dresden had never been predisposed to anything but the direct route. Walking into his own mind and forcing the grafted-on Winter magic to behave itself sounded far more up his alley than wizardly eremitism.
Which was why Harry had volunteered to guard the train carrying Golden Cross supplies to the Town with No Name for staging before they would be transported to Nippur. From the Town, he could learn more about where this oasis likely was. If he could get more information on its nature, and on finding oases in the desert in general, he should be able to find it. Not easily, but between magic and mundane navigation skills, not to mention the ability to summon food and water instead of having to ration it, Harry rather liked his chances of succeeding eventually. The sound of a train whistle roused him from his thoughts; the trip seemed to have passed uneventfully, and shortly the train would arrive at the station in the Town with No Name. An hour or so of unloading was all that stood between Harry and the start of his journey.
Perhaps if this went well, he'd visit Nippur with another Golden Cross caravan after he returned to the town.
The Winter Mantle was part of him, and yet at the same time, it was not. He couldn't afford to purge it from himself completely, though he didn't doubt that someone in the Omniverse knew how to do that, or that he could devise a way himself with thaumaturgy and Omnilium, especially without Mab there to punish him for the audacity of such an attempt. It was simply too useful, in this cruel and violent world, to be able to tap the power and instincts of a Mantle that had more experience than any mortal in the ways of cruelty and violence. The Spirit Oasis, however, didn't sound like it would strip anything away from Harry, not if the rumors were anywhere near accurate, and there was a chance, a better than average one, that he could use the magic of the waters to confront the Mantle and make it submit to him, make it stop whispering and goading him. That push, the constant nudging towards greed and violence and just taking what he wanted, whether that be food or goods or even people, it would drive him mad if he couldn't master it, and Harry Dresden had never been predisposed to anything but the direct route. Walking into his own mind and forcing the grafted-on Winter magic to behave itself sounded far more up his alley than wizardly eremitism.
Which was why Harry had volunteered to guard the train carrying Golden Cross supplies to the Town with No Name for staging before they would be transported to Nippur. From the Town, he could learn more about where this oasis likely was. If he could get more information on its nature, and on finding oases in the desert in general, he should be able to find it. Not easily, but between magic and mundane navigation skills, not to mention the ability to summon food and water instead of having to ration it, Harry rather liked his chances of succeeding eventually. The sound of a train whistle roused him from his thoughts; the trip seemed to have passed uneventfully, and shortly the train would arrive at the station in the Town with No Name. An hour or so of unloading was all that stood between Harry and the start of his journey.
Perhaps if this went well, he'd visit Nippur with another Golden Cross caravan after he returned to the town.
![[Image: u17lb3R.gif]](http://i.imgur.com/u17lb3R.gif)