Venerus;249841 said:
Why, exactly, is it a reasonable assumption that Tool would be faster living than dead? Because the KC were? It has been made explicit that the Tellann ritual gave the Imass great power. No such mention is made of the KC and their undeath.
It is a reasonable assumption because after nigh on a year of debate plus, most forum members acknowledge this likely to be the case. I don't want to spark more debates over the topic so I'll argue in line with popular opinion.
Venerus;249841 said:
This statement doesn't bear much epistemological fruit, unfortunately. It's not like the Imass sought out every single warrior they could find and brought him or her to Tool. I'm fairly certain, for instance, that Tool never fought Icarium. Not knowing any equal isn't the same as knowing you're better than everyone else. The most we can make of that quote is that if it is true, he's just never lost a direct challenge.
It is why I put
apparently in italics.
Venerus;249841 said:
The Seguleh aren't that talented? They've been tested against various ascendants and the like, they're clearly very talented, on any scheme. Karsa might be able to "stomp out the first" but right now we 1. Have no idea how that matchup would go and 2. Karsa is his own deal, unique across the ages. He shocks nearly every ancient and ascendant power he meets -- he's unusual. Another TTT like Karsa is a pretty tall order -- you can't just throw out a theory about there being one like that without backup. Especially because when Icarium saved their bloodline as referred to in HoC, it sounds like the Teblor were originally peaceful and did not enjoy fighting and murdering (there's a reference to mixing blood being rare because it involved/required violence, implying violence itself was rare).
All that being said, beating thirteen... how does that relate to fighting the first? Tool had no problem with Senu and Thurule, but Mok beat him. Rake made it to 7th and had to stop. Clearly there's a difference in skill and ability between 13 and 3, or 13 and 1. Substantial enough that beating 9 doesn't even mean beating 7 will go well, let alone a jump in 12 ranks.
It's called weight of evidence, and you have answered your own question about Karsa's ability compared to the first. How that fits in with Tool I admit it is tenuous. If you remember the origin of the Imass however you may come across evidence as to why they would generally be more adapted to fighting than current day humans. This is strictly irrelevant to two singular warriors however.
NOTE (edit): I won't get into a debate about Rake's trip to Seguleh island, most people seem to have the wrong idea about the event. I'm tempted but I won't do it.
Venerus;249841 said:
And, as a final note, although we have no idea what Tool's status is like as a human, we know for a fact that Mok is getting stronger all the time. K'rul says exactly that to Envy -- the first is concerned because Mok is becoming something fierce; there's some comment about how Mok's skills and abilities continue to develop.
That is the point, people are unwilling to outright admit both have developed since their last meeting. We don't know how much both have developed, I think it is quite clear that Tool lost the previous fight because of a combination of weapons disadvantage and speed factor.
I'll throw out another logical fallacy, Mok won last time and they've both developed so Mok will win again. This isn't true and we have no idea the levels of development so it is almost pointless to argue about such a thing. It is a matter of personal opinion, I choose to believe that a more primative, but advanced, Imass who was the champion of the race could beat the third best warrior in a single nation and I see strong evidence to back this up in my eyes. Believe what you will unless you draw new evidence to light my mind remains the same.