VoltCruelerz he/him Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 (edited) Having recently finished Words of Radiance, I found myself wondering during the final battle between Kaladin and Szeth, "can a living shardblade become a bow?" Yes, there are the heavy fabrial bows used in The Way of Kings, but I'm talking about a spren converting themselves into multiple parts. It's certainly possible to command a blade to stay away from you, but can you split the spren into multiple pieces (one for the bow, one for the arrow)? Further, since you can bond multiple dead shardblades to you, is it possible to have multiple living shardblades? If so, you could have one spren turn into a bow (or if elasticity isn't possible when spren take a physical form, at least an atlatl) while a second spren takes the form of the arrow/javelin. Same principle applies to the idea of a shard blow gun. Also, if it's possible to be bonded to dead shardblades while having a living one (albeit likely very unpleasantly), the living one could turn into an oversized atlatl for the dead one. Probably wouldn't work too well outside of Plate, but if you were wearing it, that would be a very long-ranged weapon. Edited December 12, 2015 by VoltCruelerz 2
Paranoid King he/him Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 Interesting thought. Perhaps splitting a spren into two parts isn't possible, but a long, thin cord, (think spiderweb thin,) could connect the bow to the arrow. At any point, the arrow could retract back to the bow along the cord. Along those lines, I suppose you could have multiple arrows. It just depends of how far the spren can stretch their physical identity.
FormlessFox he/him Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 Maybe Syl can shoot a ribbon of light that is actually a giggling Wind spren
The Ninja Yodeler he/him Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 Interesting thought. Perhaps splitting a spren into two parts isn't possible, but a long, thin cord, (think spiderweb thin,) could connect the bow to the arrow. At any point, the arrow could retract back to the bow along the cord. Along those lines, I suppose you could have multiple arrows. It just depends of how far the spren can stretch their physical identity. Yea, I was thinking you couldnt make a spren form two objects at once, considering Kaladin had to switch from spear to shield. But that could just be due to his inexperience with the bond. I for one think it would be awesome if Radiants could expand their cognitive identity to alter what they can do in the physical realm(isnt that what Soulcasting is anyway?). Stormlight 3 cant come fast enough for my liking. Hopefully BoM can satiate me for a while
Voidus Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 It wouldn't be all that useful, you'd need to precisely hit someone in their spine to actually kill them, the other type of Shardbow is probably more useful TBH.But I've always thought a Shardwhip would be the best form.
VoltCruelerz he/him Posted December 12, 2015 Author Posted December 12, 2015 It wouldn't be all that useful, you'd need to precisely hit someone in their spine to actually kill them, the other type of Shardbow is probably more useful TBH. But I've always thought a Shardwhip would be the best form. Against humans, probably. Headshots would be required for efficacy. That said, it would be far more effective against things like chasmfiends since their heads are rather large targets and their shells cease to be relevant.
Datan Nomlibash Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 Couldn't you just have a really wide arrow head or something? Also it might be usefull for fighting packed men since the arrow could hit multiple targets in a single shot given how sharp shardblades are.
Oversleep Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 How about turning spren in a reflective Shardbow? With Shardplate and Stormlight in your veins you can draw the bow with very big force; let's just make huge arrows, possibly with augmenting fabrials. Arrow shot with so much force could probably pierce Shardplate, so it doesn't have to be Shardarrow. It's like shooting a ballista. 1
Voidus Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 Couldn't you just have a really wide arrow head or something? Also it might be usefull for fighting packed men since the arrow could hit multiple targets in a single shot given how sharp shardblades are. On that point I'm a fan of the idea of using a bola. Throw it through a crowd of enemies and sever all of their spines.
Edgedancer he/him Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 It wouldn't be all that useful, you'd need to precisely hit someone in their spine to actually kill them, the other type of Shardbow is probably more useful TBH. But I've always thought a Shardwhip would be the best form. Would a shardwhip still cut though? I mean its not like that flat side of the blade is especially dangerous, so something like a whip might not be thought of with the kind of edge required for the kind of cutting a blade does. Now, a proper throwing weapon that can instantly be resummoned. 2
The Ninja Yodeler he/him Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 ... Now, a proper throwing weapon that can instantly be resummoned. Shuriken! Ninja stars all day!
Voidus Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 Would a shardwhip still cut though? I mean its not like that flat side of the blade is especially dangerous, so something like a whip might not be thought of with the kind of edge required for the kind of cutting a blade does. Now, a proper throwing weapon that can instantly be resummoned. No idea, could just make it really thin so it does though. Or change the edge into a blade as its about to hit someone. Or have blades embedded in it. Plenty of solutions. Or just turn it into a Shardwire, grab one end, stretch it out really far and have someone else hold the other end or anchor it into the ground and just run on either side of an enemy troop, killing all of them.
Oversleep Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 (edited) Now, a proper throwing weapon that can instantly be resummoned. Shuriken! Ninja stars all day! 1. Throw 2. Kill 3. Resummon 4.??? 5.Profit It's basically bottomless magazine of shurikens. No idea, could just make it really thin so it does though. Or change the edge into a blade as its about to hit someone. Or have blades embedded in it. Plenty of solutions. Or just turn it into a Shardwire, grab one end, stretch it out really far and have someone else hold the other end or anchor it into the ground and just run on either side of an enemy troop, killing all of them. I believe Bleach is a good mining field for cool blades: Edited December 12, 2015 by Oversleep
Patrick Star Posted December 14, 2015 Posted December 14, 2015 I think that you could have a shardbow, but not shardarros. So you could have a sprenbow that shoots REALLY heavy bolts that do way more damage and are far more accurate than a normal arrow. Possibly, I'm not 100% sure what Brandon says.
Left he/him Posted December 14, 2015 Posted December 14, 2015 There's a WoB that there's a limit to how far a Spren can go while acting as a shard weapon, so no, shard arrows are out. The above idea might work though.
Stormgate he/him Posted December 14, 2015 Posted December 14, 2015 Maybe a spren could turn into a grappling hook, allowing the orders without the Surge of Gravitation some ability to feel what it's like to fly.
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