[Dragaera] (no spoilers) The 17 [Great Weapons]

[Jon Lincicum]

tom sausman wrote:
>> Do you understand the concept of fate? 
>
>          Truth be told,no or very vaguely. I just cannot believe in 
> something so "common" so to speak. Such as, I buy a hotdog, I dropped 
> it, who's to say it was fate that I won't eat that hotdog because that 
> vendor was prick or it wasn't  that I just trip while looking at that 
> 20 something down the street?
Let me see if I can explain.

Fate encompasses the idea that who and what you are will dictate, to a 
degree, the actions that you take in life. At some certain, fundamental 
level, you are incapable of acting against the essence of what you are 
at your very core. Does this negate the concept of "free will"? 
Certainly not. But again, at that fundamental level, who you are helps 
to determine what your so-called "free will" will cause you to choose to 
do and to be. To this extent, you are at the mercy of your own fate--and 
you have no one to blame for it but yourself.
>> That the essence of the universe could drive people into an 
>> inescapable destiny? 
>
>              In truth I can't gasp the thought "essence" of anything, 
> inescapable destiny, how I believe in the Charlas Douwin Theory, and I 
> believe I spelled Douwin wrong, anybody?
Darwin talked about genetic evolution. Of the nature of plants and 
animals to evolve, within their natures, to suit their environments. 
This is not contrary to the concept of fate--far from it. In fact, it 
might be considered a form of fate in and of itself. Evolution means you 
are adapting in the way that allows you to survive. Or not surviving. In 
this way, you may be fated to become extinct.

>> Do you subscribe to a creation god or goddess? Do you believe in an 
>> atheistic "accidental" creation of the universe? Do chance, caprice, 
>> karma, or intellect drive your life?
>>
>> Am I talking to myself, here? 
>
>     I may not understand the point of the first question but isn't the 
> Earth an 'atheistis "accidental"
Well, that was my question. If you believe that to be true, then at 
least I know where you stand on the subject. I don't necessarily 
disagree with you on this, but I like to keep myself open to other 
possibilities, since there's really no hard evidence, one way or the other.
>
>> "Who put it there?" is like saying "Who put the universe there?" 
>
>           Isn't the Cycle a materialized object and not organic? 
> Evoultion cannot bring a bridge, it however creat "man" and man and 
> construt a bridge. Erosion ( I know I'd spelled that wrong) can make 
> mountains or the continental plates can, but neither and build a 
> skyscaper.
Well, this is where metaphor meets reality. Certainly, Dragaerans 
believe that the cycle is a great wheel that sits in the Paths of the 
Dead, near the Halls of Judgment. (And certainly, there is such a 
wheel.) But then, the Halls and the Paths are both ethereal, dreamlike 
places where physical objects can take on meanings much greater than in 
the ":real" world.
>> Why would one man (say, Vlad) struggle against his own destiny? 
>           To change it but if it was Fate than than is he unable to 
> change it, I was refering to shame the Jenoine were exiled from a 
> place of their choosen and by their "slaves"
Can a man fight against his very nature? Perhaps, but only poorly. Can 
the Jenoine fight their own nature? Equally doubtful.
>> Four, IIRC, and they're the only Jenoine we've seen
>
>         There were four Jenoine at once in Issola? If you counted the 
> ones from the Romances and Taltos with yours... what six all together.
Read the scene where Vlad, Verra, Aliera, Teldra, and Morrolan face off 
against the Jenoine in their "place" (Chapter 12, pages 179-184, paperback.)

It is "five of us against four of them", as Vlad puts it.

I do not believe there were any Jenoine present during /Taltos/.

>> If you need to swat a fly, does it concern you if you only have four 
>> nuclear bombs to use, and not ten thousand of them? 
>      Would be so kind as to elaborate on that analogy, the fly being 
> the lot of the gods including  the poeple with the GW? The nuclear is 
> kind of extreme to me because yes the Jenoine are powerful BUT a 
> Easterner killed one, I believe thats saying  a nuclear might  be  not 
> worth the effort but a frog can kill one? Sorry I just confused
An Easterner armed with a *Great Weapon* killed a Jenoine. If the 
Jenoine are nuclear weapons in this analogy, then a Great Weapon in the 
Death Star. If a fly lands on the "fire" button on the Death star, a 
whole planet full of nuclear weapons might just vanish in a very pretty 
Hollywood special effect.

Majikjon