After reading Issola, the regret I have is that the morganti weapon that was transformed was a long dagger, rather than the fencing weapon that Vlad is used to. He is, of course versed in the use of hand to hand dagger fighting, but his preffered method is foil and dagger. Now Iceflame is a dagger, but both Blackwand and Pathfinder are full sized swords, and thus more effective in battle, especially since Great weps AND morganti weps can kill with the smallest scratch. The dagger used in the left hand is for defence and coup de grace strokes, not for light strokes. >From the Issola reading, I get the impression that Lady Teldra is just a bit shorter and much thinner than a machete, more like a thin viking sax. I just think that she would have prefered a larger home. )) Dave PS> I was just sick of the Robert Jordan threads... wanted to start something different. _________________________________________________________________ Get a FREE online computer virus scan from McAfee when you click here. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963