Dragaera

Morganti regret (Issola spoilers within)

Sun Feb 22 20:48:21 PST 2004

On Sun, Feb 22, 2004 at 10:35:32AM -0600, Bryan Newell <bryann at bryann.net> wrote:
> > > 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. ))
> >
> > I got the same basic impression.  That particular tidbit has
> > always struck a discordant note for me; first, it's very little
> > like what you would expect Vlad to use, and second, it's nothing
> > like you would expect Teldra herself to prefer.  I could *easily*
> > perceive Teldra's personality in a slim, decorative and
> > deceptively-delicate rapier or similar fencing weapon; it would
> > fit her personality to a T and match Vlad's own choice of arms
> > as well.
> 
> Issola, hc pg 88 - "It was long for a knife and short for a sword.
> Impractical in every way, and was probably not even balanced all that well,
> most likely being a bit blade-heavy.  This, of course, was useful for
> chopping away in battle"
> 
> Issola, hc pg 98 - "It was a narrow blade, very light and useful-feeling in
> my hand, about eighteen inches long, and not nearly as blade-heavy as I'd
> suspected it would  be."
> 
> Issola, hc pg 245 - "It fit my hand like an additional finger, like it
> should have been there all along, or maybe it had been there all along and
> I'd never been aware of it."

I think you missed the hypothetical.  

> Per fencing.net, the epee is the closest of the three modern fencing weapons
> (epee, foil, sabre) to what was actually used in medieval times.

Renaissance times.  The medieval period was well over before 
rapiers came into place.

> So, an images.google.com search for "epee and dagger" returned the
> following:
> http://www.imperialweapons.com/swords/iberia/1032-GT.JPG
> If you read the specs on the image, the sword has a 37" inch blade, and the
> dagger a 17.5" blade, which lines up nicely with Godslayer being used as the
> off weapon.

Which is exactly what I am pointing out.

> Can you imagine how DISTRACTING it would be to fight someone whose
> off-weapon was a Great Weapon?  It's not like Blackwand, where you just have
> to avoid being hit by the one sword, all your attention would be focused on
> Godslayer, which isn't the "primary" weapon!

I imagine it would get somewhat awkward, but frankly, the sort of 
people Vlad would need Godslayer against are not likely to be 
fencing with him.

> > However, I think the presence of Lady Teldra in the form of a
> > long dagger makes it somewhat more difficult for Vlad to use her
> > casually.  And I think that's a very good thing for Vlad's moral
> > development.  He has a Great Weapon now; a certain amount of
> > restraint is necessary.  Should he resign himself to eating the
> > soul of anyone he crossed blades with, at least until Lady Teldra
> > wakes up?
> I believe that Morrolan has demonstrated that the owners of the Great
> Weapons _decide_ when their weapons eat souls.  Maybe that is just a trait
> of Blackwand, but I got the feeling all Great Weapons worked that way.

Why does everyone miss the qualifier?

> Plus, as I theorized above, I think in a straight up fight (not an
> assassination), most of Vlad's opponents would fall to the sword, not the
> dagger (and then he could pick and choose whether to "finish them off" with
> Godslayer).

This is basically exactly what I said.

-- 
Matthew Hunter (matthew at infodancer.org)
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