Dragaera

Great Weapons

Fri Aug 15 23:46:41 PDT 2003


On Sat, 16 Aug 2003, Matthew Hunter wrote:

> On Fri, Aug 15, 2003 at 10:53:14PM -0700, Philip Hart <philiph at SLAC.Stanford.EDU> wrote:
> > On Sat, 16 Aug 2003, Matthew Hunter wrote:
> > > ...
> > > normal experience with a Great Weapon.  In particular we know
> > > that Pathfinder was concealed in one way, such that it was
> > > rendered less efficious and perhaps in some way less active.
> > > Thus we have two examples from which to generalize, which indeed
> > > upon this list is in fact two more than required.
> > We don't know much about Pathfinder pre-Aliera, but it should be noted
> > that Baritt got a mountain named after him, being suspiciously powerful
> > (see _Dragon_).
>
> IIRC, it was speculated by the characters that Baritt may not
> have known he had a Great Weapon.  Even if he did, it strikes me
> that if anything could cause a Great Weapon to return to a
> quiescent state, the death of it's wielder would certainly
> qualify.

My point was that PF was active enough for B to hold off an army/defy the
Empire all by himself.  B being assassinated isn't consistent with him
being bonded with PF, it's true, but he isn't an idiot either.



> > This point is rather a sore one for me - it seems to me
> > he should have had more visible effects in the Vladiad and Paarfiad.
>
> Vlad would have no way to know much about Baritt -- he doesn't
> travel in those circles.  Paarfi has said little, but then there
> are many subjects and events concerning which he has said little.
> Note the little nitpick about the second Jhereg-Dragon war in
> PotD.

Vlad knows something about history.  And he's curious.  And he has a
personal grudge with the guy.  And he's buddies with a bunch of
chatty Dragons, one of whom worships B in a way that is hardly consistent
with a low-profile kind of guy.



> > > none of them have made any special note of their weaponry.  In
> > > particular, we do not know what became of that blade.

> > We know that Adron received it.  Adron would notice he was holding a GW,
> > or a potential GW.  I suspect that he wouldn't have needed to blast the
> > Orb if he had a GW, and certainly Sethra would have noticed if he had one
> > (presumably he wouldn't have left it at home) therefore...
>
> ... success or failure in his attempt; their powers seem to be
> orthogonal to sorcery (Elder or otherwise), rather than
> complementary.

There are many counterexamples.



>
> > On the subject, I would like to once again assert that Morrolan's taking
> > Blackwand into the Paths, when he fully expects to be staying, is an
> > annoying flaw in _Taltos_, which if anyone can explain away I'd be
> > grateful.
>
> I see several possibilities, of which one or more may be
> sufficient:
>
> 1) Morrolan didn't think of it (*very* likely given his attitude
> in LoCB).

That's fine, but S would have insisted he be responsible.

> 2) Sethra knew Vlad could get him out.

She couldn't.  Vlad nearly kills himself with his spell, and barely thinks
to do it.

> 3) The Gods would see that the weapon made its way to some useful
> soul.

I agree on this point, but I think the logistics wouldn't be as simple as
you present it, and who knows when the J will show up?



> I confess that I am still puzzled as to why Aliera's soul was
> sufficiently valuable to be retrieved from the Paths by such
> extreme and unprecedently measures.

This seems explicable - she's one of the handful of leading souls from the
dawn of the Empire.  Being the Dragon Heir doesn't matter much, surely,
but perhaps being Sethra's friend (and representing a rare failure) does.



> > Also on the subject, in _Issola_, when M and A are kidnapped, BW and PF
> > come along for the ride, though presumably there was no physical contact -
> > the J could have grabbed them when they were both in the shower or the
> > sack, say, if it mattered.  A GW is like a shadow, Enclouding be damned.
>
> They also came fully clothed, you'll note.  This is often a
> convenient aspect of fictional means of teleportation. ;)

I think they didn't come clothed.  I think they told Vlad that if he
mentioned the truth they'd filet him.  Note the Jenoine provided a chamber
pot - nice touch on their part.