[nacht]

This is the scene where Kalam obtained the knife.

Quote

The long-knife was startlingly heavy in Kalam’s hand. The finger ridges in the grip were overlarge, but the Wickan had compensated for this with thicker leather straps. The stamp impressed into the metal in the centre of the looped tail was intricate, almost beyond belief, given the size of the hand that must have inscribed it. Fenn. Thelomen Toblakai. The Wickan had a friend indeed. And worse, I know that mark. I know precisely who invested this weapon. Gods below, what strange cycles am I striding into here?

Any ideas who the Wickan was that previously owned this knife and who was the mage/god of elder magic who invested the knife.

[worry]

IIRC, the Wickan is unknown and the mage is presumed to be Bellurdan.

[nacht]

Thanks, Bellurdan seems to be a real good possibility


Coltaine has a long knife which is described below

Quote

A single horn-handled long-knife jutted out from under his left arm.

Maybe it is Coltaines knife.

[BarneyLegh]

I always figured it as Bellurdan who invested it, as worry suggests.
As for who it belonged to before Kalam, I thought maybe Coltaine, but i'm not 100% - would have been someone important though, for an Imperial High Mage to invest it for them, I reckon.

[James Hutton]

 BarneyLegh, on 24 November 2013 - 05:51 PM, said:

I always figured it as Bellurdan who invested it, as worry suggests.
As for who it belonged to before Kalam, I thought maybe Coltaine, but i'm not 100% - would have been someone important though, for an Imperial High Mage to invest it for them, I reckon.

I think it's a long shot it being Coltaine's knife. He rose to his position as Fist of the 7th after Bellurdan died, until then he'd been "rotting in a backwater" somewhere (can't remember the exact quote). I wouldn't think an imperial High Mage would have been sent to invest his weapon at that point in time. Yes, I know, the Timeline is not important.

The large fingergrip would suggest it was not a Wickan-made knife, but made by and for somebody from a larger race. Kalam's thoughts suggest this earlier possessor gave the Wickan this knife, but maybe he looted it?

[Abyss]

Could have been Wickan made for a T3, possibly Belurdan himself, and then invested. It doesn't quite make sense that a T3 smith would make a T3 sized knife for a human.

I tend to think to was never Coltaine's and that was just a false-lead.

[BarneyLegh]

 Abyss, on 25 November 2013 - 03:19 PM, said:

Could have been Wickan made for a T3, possibly Belurdan himself, and then invested. It doesn't quite make sense that a T3 smith would make a T3 sized knife for a human.

I tend to think to was never Coltaine's and that was just a false-lead.

Ahh, i re-read it and that makes more sense I think. T3 made in Wickan style, or Wickan made for a T3 - who then gave/lost it to a Wickan. As for whose it is, that's unknown.
I think that makes the most sense

[Fiddler]

I thought the same things as posted here, but then i examined the assumption that maybe Investiture of the weapon wasn't that hard for Bellurdan to do. So maybe he just did it to pay a debt in a card game or the like. The fact that it's sized for a T3 makes me kind of think that maybe Bellurdan made the knife for himself and ended up losing it somehow. That's just my theories on it.

[Hoods Marble Balls]

Two pages after the quote the OP posted it says:

Quote

"In a Fenn's hand, the heavier weapon weapon would be little more than a dirk. The design was clearly Wickan, meaning the investment had been a favour, or in payment. Can I think of a Wickan who might have earned that? Well Coltaine - but he carried a single long-knife, unpatterned. Now, if only I knew more about that damned Thelomen Toblakai...
Of course, the High Mage named Bellurdan Skullcrusher was dead."

To me it sounds like the knife was human sized, and it was the inscription that was oversized.

This post has been edited by Hoods Marble Balls: 08 December 2013 - 06:21 PM

[nacht]

It seems kind of random for the author to include this knife in the storyline.
First some random merchant that Kalam just visited happens to have an otataral knife. Then it is specifically mentioned that it is not Coltaines and that it was invested by Bellurdan as if this whole thing had some significance and then the storyline is dropped.

The knife is of so much value that Kalam thinks that people might actively pursue it.

[Tarthenal Theloman Toblakai]

 nacht, on 10 December 2013 - 04:59 AM, said:

It seems kind of random for the author to include this knife in the storyline.
First some random merchant that Kalam just visited happens to have an otataral knife. Then it is specifically mentioned that it is not Coltaines and that it was invested by Bellurdan as if this whole thing had some significance and then the storyline is dropped.

The knife is of so much value that Kalam thinks that people might actively pursue it.

Maybe Erikson did it on purpose to hurt our brains in deep thought, or maybe he kept the back door open for further detail in the story and either left itm, or it got cut from the story? Maybe a future tale in the Malazan world will see the knife once more?

-Mod edited for spoilers.

Edited after Grief's edit, (Sorry!)

This post has been edited by Tarthenal Theloman Toblakai: 12 December 2013 - 12:55 PM

[Grief]

Please be careful to avoid spoilers for any book later than House of Chains.

-Grief.

[Spoilsport Stonny]

Also, remember that these stories were all gamed out first. So whoever was running this game could have just conceived an interesting scenario for Kalam getting a nice power-up in weapons.

[Tarthenal Theloman Toblakai]

 Spoilsport Stonny, on 11 December 2013 - 12:59 AM, said:

Also, remember that these stories were all gamed out first. So whoever was running this game could have just conceived an interesting scenario for Kalam getting a nice power-up in weapons.

o yeah! I always forget that this is actually a D & D game basically and that such scenarios may be in play not just stories!

[GreazyGill]

 nacht, on 23 November 2013 - 11:32 PM, said:

This is the scene where Kalam obtained the knife.

Quote

The long-knife was startlingly heavy in Kalam's hand. The finger ridges in the grip were overlarge, but the Wickan had compensated for this with thicker leather straps. The stamp impressed into the metal in the centre of the looped tail was intricate, almost beyond belief, given the size of the hand that must have inscribed it. Fenn. Thelomen Toblakai. The Wickan had a friend indeed. And worse, I know that mark. I know precisely who invested this weapon. Gods below, what strange cycles am I striding into here?

Any ideas who the Wickan was that previously owned this knife and who was the mage/god of elder magic who invested the knife.

you're confusing the two knives, the otataral one was feather patterned. I haven't found any description of it's hilt or pommel. It's pretty clear Bellurdan added elder magic to the serpent blade. This thread comes up on google while i was searching up information on his blades so I am adding information for anyone else.