>At Sunday, June 08, 2003 11:18 AM, Warlord wrote: > At 12:41 6/8/2003 -0400, Steve Simmons wrote: > >On Sat, Jun 07, 2003 at 10:54:18PM -0700, lazarus wrote: > > > > > On Sat, 07 Jun 2003 22:14:06 -0700, you wrote: > > > > > >Here's a question- can there be Morganti non-edged weapons? How about a > > > >Morganti flail, or a mace? Yes, I know the Serioli are supoosed to be the > > > >makers (as reported by Vlad- let's not get into his relability as a > > > >reporter), but does it always have to slice? > > > > > I would think not, since the Morganti element of the weapon, the > > > eating of the soul, comes into play when it pierces the skin. > > > >Hmm . . . flails will pierce the skin, as will maces. So IMHO the > >answer is yes. > > Coulda does not mean shoulda. > Style, people, think *style*. Given that the Serioli are all mystical and mysterious and whatnot, and given that all we've seen so far are swords and daggers (not even any axes, as I recall), I'm thinking that blades are, if not the sole worthy vessels of the Morganti essense, then the most common by FAR. Now, there are two other things to consider, though keep in mind these are coming from a list newbie. The intimacy and invasiveness of a sword or dagger blade penetrating you is unlike the sheer destruction wrought by a mace/flail/etc or even an axe (which also has a blade, per se). The quasi-sexual nature of stabbing someone with a sword may be part of the Morganti process. Or not, since Vlad seems to think that a prick or a slice is good enough to do for someone from a decently powerful Morganti weapon. On the gripping hand, I don't recall off the top of my head anyone actually getting killed by a Morganti weapon that just pricked or sliced them (and I don't think you can include great weapons in THIS part of the discussion). Mr. Brust has said elsewhere that he doesn't like to write about armored dudes, axes, maces, etc. I'll tell you what though. If I were in Mr. Brust's shoes, I would stand aside while we argue this out, and wait for us to make a decision... then put the opposite in the next book ;) Also, someone else mentioned that they thought there could be more Great Weapons. I think there can only be the magical 17. Which leads to speculation on my part whether there can only be 17 extant at any given time; i.e. there are 17x17 great weapons that will EVER exist, but only 17 can be formed at once or something. Or, are there only 17 Great Weapons. Great non-Weapons is also a fascinating question. It seems like there are any number of things that could qualify as Artifacts, but how are they going to get a soul, if they don't have any Morganti essense to suck one in with? Kisc