[Dragaera] Status of Great Weapons in Empire law

[Jon Lincicum]

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "David Dyer-Bennet" <dd-b at dd-b.net>
> 
> On Wed, October 22, 2008 14:25, Alexx Kay wrote:
> > Maximilian Wilson:
> >
> >> P.S. I wonder if, in /Taltos/, Blackwand ate the souls of the
> >> Dragonlords Morrolan fought, or opted not to.
> >
> > IIRC, they look nervous just before starting the fight, and M reassures
> > them to the effect of "Don't worry; it does what I tell it to."
> 
> I don't think we know if this is a property of all Great Weapons with all
> wielders.  Even if it *is* a property of all the weapons, it may still not
> be available in their relationships with some wielders.

Perhaps this refers to the "Test of Wills" that Telnan mentions in /Dzur/? 

If you WIN the test of wills with your GW, then you are the one who tells it to swallow souls or leave them whole.

If you LOSE the test, then the GW decides.

As we saw in /Dzur/, Godslayer eats a soul without Vlad's consent (or even immediate knowledge). Obviously, he's not in control of this at this stage. Perhaps this will change after their inevitable battle of wills?

> It's probably reasonable that lots of Dragonlords, even, don't know about
> the properties of specific (or all) Great Weapons; but this could also be
> evidence that it's known to vary.

Very little is known for certain about Great Weapons, since neither Vlad nor Paarfi have a great deal of experience with them directly. (So far. Who knows what his knowledge level will be in /Iorich/.)

Most of what we know is based on their observed use, and padded with informed speculation by Vlad/Paarfi. Much of this informed speculation has been more or less assumed to be true on the list so far, lacking contrary, definitive evidence.  There's still plenty of wiggle room for Steve to throw us some curve balls.

Majikjon