Silencer, on 03 September 2012 - 01:45 PM, said:
So you're saying a bunch of Claw managed to take down a man almost as, if not more powerful than Tayschrenn using an Elder warren, backed up by the most deadly assassin and shadow dancer in existence...how? >.>
Now, I will grant that if they WANTED to lose that fight, and did so on purpose, then it's plausible. But honestly I think they could have pulled that off even with a seriously hamstrung Kellanved just as well. I was under the impression that the gaping hole in the balcony was what happened when Kellanved got far enough from the Otataral to use his magic a bit (not being able to direct it back towards the room and their enemies as the Otataral would nullify it once more) and they needed an exit.
As far as Kellanved's martial prowess goes; there is no evidence that he has any skills sufficient to make a difference in a fight other than his magic. He is likely not to be *completely* useless, sure, but I doubt he was tearing Claws apart left right and centre, too. The man can probably move a lot quicker than we see him do, and he's got some good resilience. At the end of the day though, who is supporting whom at the end of that fight and why did Dancer take so many wounds ostensibly protecting Kellanved if Kellanved can hold his own?
Even assuming he CAN hold his own, we're left with two facts; that he is renowned for not showing his hand, and that a combat-capable Kellanved plus Dancer would not have "lost" that fight. What do you get if you put those two together? Absolutely no reason for Kellanved to do anything but pretend he's completely useless even if he wasn't, because the only reason they didn't kill everyone there was because they WANTED things to go the way they did, which leads us back to the original claim that Dancer, by his lonesome, defending a "useless" Kellanved, fucked shit up HARD. Based on the limited information we have at hand is there really much else we can presume? :S
I'm not arguing that Kellanved is Dancer's equal, but I do think he might be capable enough to do a fair job of defending himself if pushed.
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I get the idea of Kelanved being more formidable than he appears but you still need to take his age into account.
Why? He's a quasi ascendant already from the deadhouse, he doesn't have to age like normal humans.
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Dancer take so many wounds ostensibly protecting Kellanved if Kellanved can hold his own?
Because several claws were trying to stab both of them? How do we know he took so many wounds protecting Kellanved? Maybe the claws focused on him most as the more dangerous of the two.
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One has to wonder if Kelanved knew enough about the Tiste warrens to pull one out as a shaved knuckle in the presence of ottataral?
Knowledge isn't enough, you have to have Andii blood, or a patron of that race.
Topper can use Kurald Galain, because of his ancestry.