On Mon, 2003-03-10 at 12:13, John Klein wrote: > On 10 Mar 2003, Jag wrote: > > @> > > > >Spoiler Warning: these questions assume fairly complete knowlege of > @> > > > >most of the Vlad books. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > @> > Vlad is able to heal himself with trivial effort using LT (wonder how long > @> > he'll be nine-fingered [by the way, is this a LotR reference? - if so note > @> > that the ring conferred long life]) - something Aliera (a noted medic) and > @> > Sethra (and Verra for that matter) couldn't do. I would guess he can fix > @> > up his telomeres or whatever is involved in aging with a little effort. > @> > @> I'm AFB and its been a while since I read _I_, but wasn't the ailment in > @> Vlad's arm caused by magic? I look at it as the making of Godslayer is > @> similar to the moment earlier in _I_ when he broke the glammer on him.. > @> that he was mentally linked with Spellbreaker and thus able to use its > @> abilities on himself. In case that wasn't clear, I think the only > @> reason Vlad was able to cure his arm is because it was caused by magic > @> and Spellbreaker/Godslayer tends to disrupt magic. > > I dunno if that'd hold up, unless the magic were still present there > holding the wounds open. It seems like once the damage is done, the magic > would be over with. Although maybe I'm being mistaken in trying to apply > physical rules to magic. I don't think it absorbs the magic, but more disrupts it. The energy >from the magic would still be there, it would just be disrupted so that it no longer has any form[1]. > > Speaking of which, the fact that Spellbreaker is part of Godslayer must be > significant in some way. Presumably this means that the sorcery that > Spellbreaker consumes/disperses/nullifies[0] is the same stuff[1] that > powers the Gods, albeit on a smaller scale. I seem to recall that it wasn't that it absorbs whatever powers the gods, but that the gods tend to have, but that Spellbreaker's magic disrubstion abilities will allow Godslayer to cut through a God's protections like a warm knife through butter. > > > > [1] Tangent two: I wonder how Spellbreaker/Godslayer/Teldra would react > to pre-Empire sorcery or witchcraft? I don't recall an incidence of this > in the books offhand. If I remember corectly, Spellbreaker is made out of yellow Pheonix stone, or something similar, so it probablly only works on sorcery, Imperial and pre-Imperial. The Great Weapons weren't made by Dragaerans, so it probablly can't tell the difference between Imperial and Elder sorceries. > > [2] Tangent three: Souls, we are told, feed Morganti weapons[3]. What > happens if you don't feed a Morganti weapon for a long time? Does it > encyst itself like a bacterium and become dormant? Or would it crumble to > dust? How long can a Morganti weapon go between souls? Do they have > other ways of nourishing themselves when souls are not available? (Are > they solar powered? Eco-friendly soul-eating weapons? We already > know they're good at recycling.) Does the number of souls consumed relate > to the "strength" of the weapon[4]? I don't think its the souls feed the weapons as much as the weapons eat the souls. Subtle yet important difference. Think of a Morganti weapon as nothing more than a weapon with magical properties. It doesn't need to sustain itself, it just is. In some ways its like Aliera in the wand.. she had no body that needed to be sustain, it was just her soul in there which apprently needed nothing at all to keep itself sustained. > > [3] Tangent four: how sure is it that souls consumed by Morganti weapons > are really gone forever? Could they be extracted from the weapon later by > some process? The Mysterious Case of Mr. Loraan makes me wonder, even > apart from Vlad's "Jewel of Judgement" experience in Issola. What is the Mysterious Case of Loraan again? I always took it to be that the Morganti weapons destroy the souls. It is also possible that they just absorb them, in which case it might be able to coax them out, but it would probablly require a skilled necromancer with a Great Weapon to do it. I want to say that the end of _Issola_ supports souls being absorbed and a Great Weapon would be able to pull them out, but as I think about it more I realize that's probablly just a case of the Morganti short sword refusing the destroy Teldra's soul due to it recognizing the soul as being part of itself.[2] > > [4] Tangent five: Are there Morganti weapons that are not sword-shaped? > I'm imagining a Morganti staff, mace, or axe. It might be that the cutting > or piercing aspect is necessary (and the latter is nicely symbolic, if > we're talking about vampiric weapons). I believe the cutting is required. During the scene where Vlad gets his second pet jhereg[3] its mentioned that the morganti blade has to actually cut his skin to suck his soul. As for the mace and axe, it might be possible, but at the same time, have we seen anyone, with the exception of Jhereg enforcers with such weapons? [1] The 'form' being the spell itself/effects of the spell. [2] So, what would have happened if Teldra would have first gotten cut by a different Morganti blade. Would Godslayer be lost for all time? Or due to the Great Weapon connection, would she somehow be immune, or at least have her soul stored in the attacking weapon instead of destroyed? [3] Yes, I'm calling Loiosh a pet jhereg, so there :P