[Wolfdrop]

This might seem a strange thing to be irked by but has anyone else noticed that many characters have their weapons underneath their armpit? Once you notice, it can't be unseen (look for it when you reread RotCG and Stonewielder)


The only instance I can recall from SE is Coltaine having a knife sheathed there. I figured that wasn't so bad, seeing as it's a knife and would be easy whip out.

On the other hand, ICE almost exclusively describes his characters sheathing their weapons under their arm. When Kyle isn't grooming his moustache he's sheathing his tulwar under his arm. Surely this would be pretty awkward with a long heavy weapon?

And Rillish, two long dueling swords, two! That's got to be even more awkward, how do they not fall out when he bends over!

Fair enough for Kyle, he's a tribal peasant who's probably grateful for having an upgrade from having his tulwar tied to a piece of string round his neck. Rillish has no excuse, he's mega rich.

Buy a fucking belt....

Note: I enjoyed RotCG and Stonewielder immensely but thought it was a funny quirk

[Traveller]

I like the way fantasy books nearly all feature at least one character 'cleaning his nails with a knife/dagger.'

It's like the wilhelm scream of the genre.

[Abyss]

Not everyone wants to trip over their scabbard all the time or have the silly thing whacking them in the shins.
Plus for riding or moving through certain kinds of terrain a higher draw makes way more sense.
I'm relatively sure that's historically accurate, albeit without any real research

To use a modern analogy.... some police wear their guns on their hips, some wear them underarm.



... cue Worrywort with a deoderant joke in 3... 2...

[worry]

What the hell is "deodorant"??

[Illuyankas]

Nothing to raise a stink over

[Abyss]

Those puns were the pits.

[Wolfdrop]

Abyss, you've ruined my mental image of Kyle with that police reference!

 malazan funny.jpg (18.42K)
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[Abyss]

Wolfdrop, on 28 July 2014 - 09:54 PM, said:

Abyss, you've ruined my mental image of Kyle with that police reference!

malazan funny.jpg

Needs more moustache.

[Andorion]

Underarm draw wouldn't work for ticklish people would it? Just imagine Kyle giggling uncontrollably during every horse ride...........

[Gorefest]

Wolfdrop, on 28 July 2014 - 07:31 PM, said:

And Rillish, two long dueling swords, two! That's got to be even more awkward, how do they not fall out when he bends over!

Fair enough for Kyle, he's a tribal peasant who's probably grateful for having an upgrade from having his tulwar tied to a piece of string round his neck. Rillish has no excuse, he's mega rich.

Do you have any particular quote references to this? All I can find with regard to Rillish is the passage aboard the ship heading for Korel in SW:

"Rillish saluted the captain and went to his cabin. His aide helped him strap on his cuirass of banded iron, his vambraces and greaves. Last, he tied on his weapon belt and twinned Untan duelling swords. His helmet he tucked under an arm."

And a bit further down:

"Rillish drew his two slim duelling blades."

Several pages later:

"He straightened, wiped the back of a gauntlet across his wet mouth, clumsily drew one blade, and peered about, blinking."

No particular mention of underarm sheathes in these passages?

[Wolfdrop]

Looking up passages in the paperback version would take forever. I think it was more prevalent in RotCG for Rillish and SW for Kyle. I'll keep an out on my reread though

[Gorefest]

I appreciate that you can't pull them out of thin air, I just thought you might have some examples handy. Not that I don't believe it being the case, it's just that I never really noticed it myself. Screening through RotCG at the moment, but again the passages I can find in relation to Rillish and swords seem to suggest them sitting at his hip. For instance, the part where he goes to meet Nil and Nether to resign his command reads:

"Rillish straightened his torn and faded surcoat, belted on his swords, pushed back his hair that had grown too wild and long of late and carried more grey in it than he wished."

The 'belted on his swords' bit to me would suggest that the sheaths are sitting at his waist, although I guess he could of course be belting them around his shoulders. As far as I know, SE fences and he knows his swordplay. Don't know if the same goes for ICE, but it sounds like the kind of detail they themselves would realise as well. So I would definitely share your reservations if things like underarm drawing (or drawing from the back over the shoulder, for that matter) of long swords would be endemic in the books.

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 30 July 2014 - 09:37 AM

[Gothos]

iirc the Seguleh, at least Mok and the female one that gets wrecked by Karsa, wear their weapons under their armpits as well.

[Wolfdrop]

@Gorefest

Given the above reference about police having weapons under their arm or on their hips, I can see how it would be a viable option. I've just never heard of long weapons being sheathed there, I guess it's just another detail that makes the Malazan setting more interesting.

[Wolfdrop]

Tool in DoD MMPB page 590 "slung it back into the sheath beneath his left arm"
Wasn't Tool's flint sword massive? I seem to recall it being pretty big in GoTM and MoI, to the extent that he carried it on his back.