City of IF

[SerriaFox]

I was thinking of adding a living weapon to my story Sanctuary. But besides liking the idea I am having a bit of writers block on its characteristics.

What do you think would be the advantages of having a living spear? Disadvantages?

While I'm not opposed to making the weapon unique I would prefer to make it a class of weapons so each hunter of the tribe could have one, which leads to the problem of reproduction. No I don't want baby spears zooming through the camp.

In fact, I don't know that I want the living weapons to be able to move at all, without the hunter. But then you get into "why have a living weapon at all"

I was wondering what you think

[Black Hawk]

I'm going to say a living spear that can't move on its own but has telepathy or speech and has magic powers that it can use when it pleases until it bonds with it owner (used as a rite of passage for men in the tribe?)
well hope it helps

[shy_blu_eyes]

This may be a bit much but...

"Living Spears" are actually spears that contain the spirit of a hunter's ancestor.

These weapons, while not unheard of, are quite uncommon. First the hunter must go through a cleansing ritual, and a spirit quest that includes hunting a rare and/or powerful quarry. If the hunter completes his quest, and is found worthy by his ancestors, he becomes "marked". Once a hunter has been marked by his ancestors, a master spearmaker can craft a special spear, which requires complex rituals as part of the crafting process. After that the tribal shaman uses another ritual to transfer the ancestor's spirit from the hunter to the newly crafted spear. Each spear is attuned to it's hunter and vise versa.

Living Spears cannot move on their own, but can guide the hand of their owners so that they strike truely. They cannot "talk" with their owners, but can convey the wisdom of the ancestor to it's hunter. In effect, the advantage is that the hunter has subconcious access to a lifetime of experience, but not the specific memories or knowledge of the ancestor.

The best part is that this could leave some doubt as to whether the spears actually have any power, or if they work simply because their owners believe that they have power.

That's just some thoughts that came to me, I hope they help.

[Black Hawk]

an interesting idea Shy but what happens when the spear owner becomes a spear if he uses the wisdom and skill of his ancestors does he gain skill and wisdom if not what good is a spear with your ancestor in it if it can't help you?

[SerriaFox]

awesome idea Shy, though not quite what I had in mind I think it well work great.

You see the spear are not ancient but brand new. They will be created, at least in part, by the life part of the Elemental Storm. However the idea that they can pass on the wisdom of one hunter to the next, growing stronger with each passing is terrific.

Thanks

[Lord Byron]

Sounds a little bit like the spear of destiny

[bookwizard]

I have read none of the posts above, but I have a few ideas. You could have the spears (or any other weapon) infused with a sort of substance, a substance very important to this tribe, and only known about by this tribe. This would be a substance or consciousness, or a substance that would give consciousness, and the process of forging these fabled weapons could only be archived by a select few, and these few are now growing fewer. The weapons would not necessarily have there own personality's, but would communicate to their "owners", or rather companion's through a sort of pure emotion. The wielder would always know if the weapon was getting nervous, confident about an enemy, or even happy or sad, but in a much more complicated sense then the general words. You could even add the twist that once bonded with a weapon when the weapon is destroyed the wielder would die, and if the wielder is killed then the weapon will remain intact but will never allow itself to be wielded by another. I could defiantly go into more depth if you like the idea...