[Dragaera] Status of Great Weapons in Empire law

[Jon Lincicum]

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "David Dyer-Bennet" <dd-b at dd-b.net>
> I don't remember if this is addressed in the books.
> 
> In the Empire, morganti weapons are extremely highly illegal.
> 
> Great weapons are in some sense morganti (including apparently an actual
> morganti weapon going into their construction); they have the same ability
> to destroy souls, which is the basis so far as I know of the distaste for
> morganti weapons.
> 
> Now, the people we know who have great weapons mostly seem to also flout
> the law on ordinary morganti weapons, so maybe there is no distinction. 
> But the great weapons seem to be born pretty openly and publicly by people
> like Morrolan. (One could pretty easily argue that Sethra was a special
> case, especially since she's been banished from court.)

Given the extreme rarity of Great Weapons, I would say that it is likely EVERY bearer is treated as a "special case". 

There are only supposed to be 17 of the things, and of these, we only know of five (Iceflame, Blackwand, Pathfinder, Godslayer, and Nightslayer) that are actually active at the moment. Given that the bearers of two of these were directly responsible for the restoration, and the others are, repectively, the cousin, close friend, and pupil of the first, it seems extremely unlikely that the Empress (and hence, the Empire) is going to pursue punishment against any of the "perpetrators" of this "crime", if it is one.

There is also the fact that the superstition (if it truly is such) surrounding the Great Weapons acknowledges the unique role that they (and their bearers) play regarding the protection of the Empire and the world from the forces outside (The Jenoine, and possibly others).  Tradition (if not actual law) may afford special privileges to GW holders as a consequence of this. 

My guess is that Great Weapons are extralegal. Not against the law, simply not covered by the law. 

In any case, a Feudal society is likely to have a double-standard about such things anyway. What is illegal for most people is fine for nobility and/or close friends of the Emperor. The concept that "no one is above the law" is really a rather modern idea in human history, and one that Dragaerans do not really appear to share. 

Majikjon