Would YOU wield the North Wind?
On the surface it seems like a no-brainer; of course one would wield a weapon that would not “…fail its wielder or lead her [or him] astray.” Why wouldn’t you make use of a weapon that could curb tragedies or serious mistakes?
But to counterpoint and grossly paraphrase the great Captain Kirk: I don’t want my mistakes taken away! I need my mistakes! They’re the things we carry with us, the things that make us who we are. If we lose them, we lose ourselves.
It would be a deep philosophical question for me…do I rely on something that could be correcting my decisions for the sake of a greater good I can’t fully fathom, or push forward knowing that if I make mistakes at least I know I made them of my own choosing and free will?
In addition to that, I’m not even a swordsman or trained in the use of any weapon, but I would be very wary of using a sword that could defy my actions at any moment, regardless of the weapon’s good intentions.
Wielding the North Wind without knowing what it does is one thing, but once you knew what it was doing…would you still use it? For me it comes down to the question of choosing between the imperfect path that is wholly of my choosing, or a path that is objectively better but lacking the satisfaction of knowing I forged it on my own. Both appeal to different parts of me.
What would you do?
I might be wrong, but to me, the way he saud it made the magic of the blade sound benign, almost too benign. It seemed less like it would actually do anything than a minor charm for good luck and near invincibility of the blade itself, not really magic strong enough to act in any way.If I slash left and I would’ve died for it, I don’t think it’d fix that, per se, but it might influence me to do something else. But only influence, not actually change. And when viewed that way, certainly the blade would be awesome. The endurance alone opens up a whole genre of weapon breaking techniques impossible without an invincible blade. And everybody could use a little luck, right? You’ll still make mistakes, but it’ll help you survive them, and perhaps help you realize it’s a mistake before you make it. Plus, when does its magic activate? He said wielder, right? So if it’s sheathed on her back, Tiff isn’t wielding it, just carrying it. So it’s influence probably only extends to actual battles, unless you intend to carry a bared blade at the ready 24/7.
Any help in a fight is a plus. It kept Tiff from getting gutted in the street by the kings guards.
Depends on the severity of the situation. If the consequence of making a mistake is so severe that I really wouldn’t be able to live with them (whether because I’m dead or someone that I really want alive is killed), I’d say – to hell with free will, keep me safe.
It’s also a matter of trust – how much do you trust a sword to know what’s good for you. If you trust it completely, you wouldn’t have any problems doing what it wants. If you think “what does a piece of metal know about the greater good”, then you probably won’t aprechiate the interference.
No, you’re absolutely right. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. People do the most horrible things to each other in the name of the “greater good”, as if there could be a greater good without the smaller. And on a personal level, I’m utterly tired of people thinking they know what’s best for me when they obviously don’t know what’s best for themselves in the first place.
That said, the idea of a magical sword imbued with such a subtle power is indeed awesome and worth further exploring in the story.
Depends, will it let me discard it if I choose?
@crypticmirror – I believe so.
I’ve also been considering that the CHOICE to continue wielding it is still mine, so I could take credit for wanting to let the sword guide me…
The North Wind is a sword. Granted, it is a much more sophisticated tool than a normal sword but it is still a narrow-purpose tool only usable in situations that involve cutting, slashing and thrusting with a large sharp/pointy object.
And speaking of which, having it being able to sense consequences of actions by predicting the future is overpowered to the point of being a deus-ex-machina. I prefer to interpret its power as tapping into its wielder’s subconsciousness to probe for thoughts and reactions hidden below the surface.
The North Wind is indeed a sword which would mean many of the decisions would involve kill or don’t kill. The other side of the philosophical debate is that Tiff is a barbarian, prone to rage which sort if removes her choices from her control to an extent at times. Thus, if I were a Barbarian, I would certainly wield the North Wind. If I were the King of the Luminary Alliance… Not so much.
If it were closer to my reality, I’d have little reason to kill people at all (or I’d be jailed for it anyway). Thus, my best use is for opening tins and carving my food where it would save me from poison or at least food poisoning. Only problem is it would likely save me from junk food…
If I lived by the sword, I’d want a damn good sword. This sounds like the best.
Its a good question.
Like some above my comment, it would depend on the severity. If I had to win/survive/not fail, then yes. However, in any other circumstance, I would have to think on it. The power as written is amazing, until you realize the sword somehow knows who will be important to you later. The question is, is the sword working to help you or is it working for some higher purpose.
Ironically, if it was working to help its wielder, I’d find the nearest volcano. I might be a good man. But there is no guarantee the next person to carry the blade will also be a good man. That power in the hands of one who had no respect for others would be terrifying.
If it was for some greater good, I would wield the blade while seeking out what the blade’s purpose is. Only when I knew the sword was a weapon of good would I wield it all the time. Further, in my old age, I would make certain to pass it on to someone I cared about and told them of the sword. If a force that seeks to right wrongs and restore a small measure of peace on the world needs my help, then it will get my help. I’d rather do some good then give up that opportunity.
If I tried to cut something (or someone) and it didn’t work because I would regret it later, the sword has failed me. The sword’s true master is the greater good, but I am not the greater good.
This got eaten, I’ve reconstructed it from memory, but I was happier with the first version.
Considering that a sword, by definition, is used only either in a) training, b) life or death situations, or c) situations that might easily turn into (b), I’d train like hell using another sword of the same weight and balance, but when I went into battle, knowing that one slip-up or mis-aimed blow – or even, as we’ve seen, perfectly aimed one at a target that you would greatly regret hitting – I would damn well use the Magical Sword of No Crit-Fails. Any advantage in a fight, and if you ain’t cheating you ain’t trying.
That said, I’d still want to research it to see if it truly is working for my benefit, or some abstract greater good – and if the latter, who or what defines that greater good? Even if I found that the good was made by a being or force I trusted, I’d still think long and hard about continuing to use it.
If I continued, but was informed that depending on circumstances I might be killed while wielding it, but if so, it was to further that good – say I had turned down a darker path, or my death here would save/inspire thousands of people later – whether they be my people or not – I hope I would have the courage to continue using it. Think of it this way. If the death of the one wielding it convinces the next Stalin or Pol Pot (not invoking Godwin here) not to commit genocide, or I was guarding someone not knowing of their dark ambitions/actions and my death was necessary for them to be stopped… well, first up after I die I’d want to know if there was another path, and if it really was preordained that they would become that kind of monster, what about free will? And if that was not a factor, why couldn’t they be stopped without me dying? But I guess I’d eventually make my peace with it. After all, Gods are real in this setting (if AWOL) so presumably the afterlife is too.
I’d still want a damn good explanation, though.
If, on the other hand, the sword worked only for the good of the bearer… that’s almost as thorny a question. What makes my “good” better than everyone elses? What if my “good” ends up being bad enough for someone else, either directly or indirectly, that civilisation suffers as a result because of some missed discovery or opportunity? Again, what about free will? What about predestination? Does it have some sort of precaution against being used for evil?
I’d probably end up wielding it myself, while finding out everything I can about the thing (under the guise of searching for it). If I find enough information to make a judgement call, I hope I’d have the moral courage to do the right thing, whether that be wielding it or not, destroying it or not. If I don’t find the information, I’d set things up so that when I die, it is destroyed without being wielded (along with half-a-dozen other random items, such as armour and a compass and such, to throw off suspicion). If it is truly a weapon for the good of all, it will either find a way not to be destroyed on its own, or will be saved by an act of whoever empowered it in the first place. If it is not for the good of all but rather the wielder, without one its self-protection enchantments should at the very least be weakened by not being able to manipulate fate for any one being.
If it is a good-for-all weapon, then I hope that I would have the courage to wield it to the last, even if that meant my death. If it is a good-for-bearer item, and is insufficiently careful about others or its bearer, I hope I would have the courage to destroy it, even if that meant giving up a crucial edge. That said, I could never know whether I would be capable of it until I had already made the choice, whether that was letting go of it, dropping it into Mount Doom, or holding on to it even as it fouls my parries and I am run through.
It’s too powerful to be left alone, and the only way to uncover its true nature, purpose, and mode of operation is to wield it. I do so, keep careful notes, and share the results with a couple people I trust – understanding that this last step both subtracts and adds future risk.
Once I have a solid understanding of the sword, I can make a more informed judgment. Meanwhile, the sacrifice for its power is some measure of my free will. I choose to accept this, knowing that the impairment of my free will lasts only as long as I want it to. I can give the sword away or refuse to use it if it comes to that, so despite the sword’s power, the ultimate decider is still me.
Which makes a big difference.
Mindsword2> Ironically, if it was working to help its wielder, I’d find the nearest volcano.
One Does Not Simply Walk into Mordor.
If am wielding a sword that will help my every action, Mindsword goes where Mindsword pleases.
… I would.
The only occasions I can think of when I would wield a sword to harm or kill someone, I judge I would be running on fear and/or anger. On such occasions, it would be nice to have someone or something riding shotgun whose judgment is not impaired.
I’d make my own choices when I could, i.e., when not out of my mind with fear or rage because I or someone else were being threatened by something horrible.
As a retired fencing instructor, I can say what I’d do. Get a second weapon, keep the northern wind, but only wield it in situations that cannot be solved with a normal good and well-balanced blade – fighting dragons, gorgons or a group of archers on an open plain.
The North Wind sounds similar to an intelligent weapon from D&D. In D&D some very powerful weapons have their own consciousness with their own feelings and goals. Such weapons can and will shape the person who holds them. Many will only let certain alignments wield them. ie. Evil sword will only allow evil wielder. Also weapons like this almost always have stories and tales written about them. The ones that corrupt and cause evil are very quickly described and are remembered for a very long time. I would say in the D&D context that the sword is True Neutral. My impression of the North Wind was that it acts toward the interests of the person who wields it, and will not allow the wielder to complete an action that will harm their interests while they are not in full control. If you look back to the times that the sword has failed to be used properly it was mostly when Tiffany has been in a rage or likewise out of control. Also if we assume the sword is cognizant itself, then we open up the possibility that it knows things that the protagonists do not. Not because it can see the future, but instead because of what it has experienced in the past. In this way it can stop an action that it knows will not be in the wielders best interests due to information it possesses and the wielder does not. I could just be wrong, but this would balance the weapon in a way that does not break the storyline. I would use this weapon because even in sparing it is far to easy to accidentally hurt or kill someone and having either a benevolent entity watching my back to just a smart sword keeping me from fileting someone it is a win in my book and not really a question of whether my will is subverted.
I have been thinking about that sword the North Wind, and I have come to the conclusion that it can only be a good thing.
I made some horrible mistakes in my life, mistakes that I wouln’t have done, if I knew then what I know now.
If I had a guardian angel, that looked out for me, and always KNEW what was right, where I was supposed to be, and helped me act accordingly, preventing me from making mistakes, it would be the greatest thing ever.
The very knowledge of having the sword would fill me with calm and confidence.
If I knew that the sword was helping me reach my destiny, I would be at peace with myself, there would no longer be an inner conflict. No longer would I be ruled by doubt and fear.
You are talking about whether or not your destination is your own or not, but you see there is only two possibilities here, the theist dilemma. Either we accept God, accept the existence of a higher being, that everything happens for a reason, and we all have a destiny; or we reject God, reject the idea of any higher being, any higher purpose, that everything happens by chance, that we have no purpose.
In both scenarios free will can be true or false, but lets assume its true, we are then left with either choosing our own pointless future, or finding our true destiny on our own, or with help. Wouldn’t it be better to find your one true love at age 16, rather then age 39?
Wouldn’t it be better to be filled with the peace of knowing your true purpose rather then the doubt of whether your current path is the correct one?
Liberated from doubt and fear, replacing it with conviction and confidence, we can become something so much greater then that which we are, is there truly anything greater then that?
Like all mystic weapons, including the likes of the ancient Caledfwlch, grandparent of the Modern Day Excalibur, it is what it is.
Caledfwlch was a weapon that frightened all, for a very good reason. However, it rigidly obeyed the whims and dictates of whomever wielded it. No second guess.
No, ‘are you sure’. Certainly no, don’t do this, because you may end the world as we know it.
Like Unix, it is very User Friendly.
Where the concept of User and Friendly is more akin to a Gaelic of Norse Legendary saga.
Therein, of course, is the great Oxymoron, also known as the Cruel Kindness.
Mjölnir, the legendary Norse lighting hammer of the gods can smite all, no questions asked. This includes the ‘great wyrm of the world’, which allegedly has consequences that would make the “big bang” look like a flash in the pan.
As all this may be, the real question would be, would you wield any such weapon for the greater good, even if you destroyed a kingdom or two, or would you refrain and see your world, as you know it, enslaved or destroyed?
Unless and until such a weapon was in your hand, you would never know.
Legendary History also shows the choices were rarely if ever optimal.
Even when the legendary weapon was wielded by legendary, god like, entities.
So, you uniquely disturbed, non god like man, woman or child, give it your best shot, if you stuff up, I’ll probably never know it, either way.
The question though is whether or not the sword actually prevents you from making mistakes, or simply mitigates the severity of what mistakes you can make… I don’t see it as being able to stop tiff from making any non-combat related mistakes. Basically it will only kill when killing isn’t a mistake and otherwise keep its wielder alive in a fight. I doubt it will stop you from doing something stupid like gambling away all your money or putting your foot in your mouth. So yeah, if I had to choose a weapon for a fight I suppose I would like the North Wind.