The Dresden Files

The Fae do seem to dominate the setting. I wonder if that's just a consequence of Harry's shifted perspective on them though.

Well, everyhing from gnomes to centaurs to ogres are considered Fae in DF.

Trolls too. And apparently certain deities, if the whole Hecate thing is to be believed.

Might be it's related to Greek creation myth, where the centaurs were products of primordial gods. Same with trolls in Norse mythology. Similarly, Hecate was a goddess long before the Olympians existed.

edited 30th Jul '15 3:46:01 PM by math792d

Gnomes, trolls, and ogres being fae isn't something Dresden Files started. It does seem to be the default category for magical critters, though.

Given the example of Odin/Santa/Donnar, I think it might be a case of what 'hat' or mantle they happen to be 'clocked in' at the time. Odin has no record of having problems with iron, but if he happens to be in his role as Santa, then he probably has to 'go fey' and be as iron vulnerable as they are (see: fight at former ironworks to take command of Wild Hunt). Similarly, I think that also means when the Queens are being Hecate, they're similarly iron immune.

Which brings up the possibility that Mother Winter wasn't present in her aspect as a Fae when Harry met with her in her cottage. She was touching iron, after all. I think his calling her by all those other names gave her enough leeway to manifest as something besides her fae-mantle.

Also, it makes sense that Santa is a Fey. After all, he has elves make his toys, after all.

And which of the Winter Queens is Baba Yaga, do you think? Not Maeve, that's for sure, but neither Mad of Mother Winter seem right to me. Mother Winter can't manifest in the mortal world as Baba Yaga is said to, and Mab... She's too Lawful, and Baba Yaga seems to have a Chaotic streak.

I can't see Baba Yaga as any member of that trio except Mother. I mean, her name includes the title "old woman." Doesn't really fit anyone younger. I think it's more likely that she's just some random winterfae (or possibly unaligned) badass a la Lea.

Baba Yaga is confirmed to be MW IIRC.

Oh wait, I'm an idiot. We don't need to speculate on this. She's in the Russian section of the Paranet Papers. Let's let an old-timey wizard speculate for us.

Well it is 'as far as I can tell' so could still be her Mother Winter, just hiding it very very well.

I'm considering making a Michael Carpenter character for an RP game (Nexus Clash). Does he use a Claymore (flavor text "A great sword for a great warrior") or a generic Sword ("This is a simple sword made from forged steel")? A Sabre, a Cutlass or a tarnished silver sword are also options but those don't quite fit. Also does he mostly use a Chainmail Shirt or a Plate Cuirass? Gameplay-wise the cuirass is more protective but the chainmail's a bit lighter.

I'm already playing as Karrin Murphy, by the way. Somebody had already taken Dresden.

Does Paranet Papers have any word on Anansi?

Nah. I assume he's off in England embarrassing his kid.

Michael's sword is apparently five feet long. That sounds Claymore-sized to me.

Everything in the RPG is in-universe speculation by the in-universe authors, and thus possibly incorrect. Nothing from it's a hundred percent certain, but it's sure better than no info at all.

It's also a cruciform (cross shaped blade) which means that it's not a claymore, what with their 'V' shaped guard.

Five feet is definitely on the longsword side of the equation. Claymores and other zweihanders are almost as tall as their wielders, and I somewhat doubt Michael is five feet.

Also, keep in mind that as personal combat weapons, great swords are useless. It's like entering into a duel with a pike.

edited 31st Jul '15 2:59:51 AM by math792d

Swords like that were, afair, at least partially meant to cut down cavalry+their horse.

Which brings a new level to "fuck you and the horse you rode in on."

edited 31st Jul '15 3:55:15 AM by 3of4

Nodachi were anti-cavalry, right?

Jup, it and a few others (Zanbatou)

Greatswords were anti-pike measures actually. Or purely ceremonial. At least in the West.

Yeah, Japanese greatswords were used as anti-cavalry weapons, but eventually people were like "these are really hard to make, less effective than spears, and difficult to carry around and draw" so they stopped being used on the battlefield.

Zanbatou I think were so big they were swordsmith dick waving than anything else.

edited 31st Jul '15 7:03:12 PM by majoraoftime

More measuring than waving I believe. Those look heavy and awkward to handle.

Among other issues◊

The yari was pretty much the premiere infantry weapon in Japan post-introduction of muskets.

Before that it was the naginata, a kind of Japanese halberd.

edited 1st Aug '15 1:43:44 AM by math792d

Silly fact: Naginata, in later years, usually associated with Yamato Nadeshiko, while its Chinese closest comparator (at least visually), Guandao, usually associated with Manliness (thank you very much, Guan Yu).

Funnily my Edge Town chars have a female samurai with a sword and her male boyfriend using a long spear with some japanese spear-techniques

To be fair, though, Guandao is, like, bloody heavy. Accounts says they could split a man in armor in half. Guan Yu's said to weight 83 kg, for starters.