Possibly my last contribution… who can say?

[Caelan Arendor]

 

In Fal Dara, Lan utters a peculiar line about “sheathing the sword.” The meaning seems to lie in a great blademaster’s willingness to accept a mortal wound himself in order to destroy his foe. Thus the sword does not come to rest in the scabbard, but in his own body instead.

[Vambram]

I loved that saying from Lan. Also, when Lan "sheathed the sword" to defeat Demandred at the Last Battle is one of my most favorite scenes in all of fantasy fiction!!

[Kalessin]

For what it's worth, it's the reasoning behind suicide bombers and kamakazi attacks and sailors volunteering for sailing fireships into enemy harbours. And a US army vet makes it the pinnacle of a warrior's combat, taking out the enemy just as he thinks he's taking you out.

[Asthereal]

On 1/2/2026 at 5:24 AM, Vambram said:

I loved that saying from Lan. Also, when Lan "sheathed the sword" to defeat Demandred at the Last Battle is one of my most favorite scenes in all of fantasy fiction!!

 

"I did not come here to win." 🙂 

Edited January 22 by Asthereal

[Archdragon]

as sayings goes, i similarly liked and also stated to many beforely unheard ears this when i say you will fully know what i speak about before saying it, while fighting with them and in my mind thought myself gentlemanly debating with them instead about different things with people connected to each other *laughs* in terms of me using the saying that is that when it comes to being a man everywhere there was a single sharingly acceptebely thinkable common truth and that was i informingly spoke and quoted it was that they should face what is coming to their way on their feet and retortingly added they were not doing it and completeling concluded in contrast i was doing it. by means of downing their manners in the discussions after proving many things and facing maybe only ad hominem.

Edited Sunday at 10:54 PM by Archdragon

[Elgee]

@Archdragon Could you possibly honour us with some punctuation? Perchance some grammar?

Asking for a friend.

[Caelan Arendor]

17 hours ago, Archdragon said:

as sayings goes, i similarly liked and also stated to many beforely unheard ears this when i say you will fully know what i speak about before saying it, while fighting with them and in my mind thought myself gentlemanly debating with them instead about different things with people connected to each other *laughs* in terms of me using the saying that is that when it comes to being a man everywhere there was a single sharingly acceptebely thinkable common truth and that was i informingly spoke and quoted it was that they should face what is coming to their way on their feet and retortingly added they were not doing it and completeling concluded in contrast i was doing it. by means of downing their manners in the discussions after proving many things and facing maybe only ad hominem.

I’m sorry, but unfortunately my English skills are insufficient, and I must admit that I failed to understand this post. I apologize, and the fault certainly lies with me.

 

 

 

[Elgee]

22 hours ago, Caelan Arendor said:

I’m sorry, but unfortunately my English skills are insufficient, and I must admit that I failed to understand this post. I apologize, and the fault certainly lies with me.

 

 

 

 

It does not. Don't take the blame for what other people do, or don't do, Caelon. 

[Ithillian Turambar]

Maybe it's cos we all read long books, in a massive book series, that has many many drawn out details and unnecessary Faile chapters.

 

But actually most of us are not literary talents, well not in the general discussion pages anyways. Maybe the RP section can get down with the oodles of words about sniffing and skirt straightening, but yeah... in General Discussion and the other regular forums it's best to be clear and concise. 

 

I too was not able to follow 😞

Edited Tuesday at 02:48 PM by Ithillian Turambar

[Caelan Arendor]

1 hour ago, Elgee said:

 

It does not. Don't take the blame for what other people do, or don't do, Caelon. 

Oh, I didn't want to seem rude....

[Caelan Arendor]

59 minutes ago, Ithillian Turambar said:

Maybe it's cos we all read long books, in a massive book series, that has many many drawn out details and unnecessary Faile chapters.

 

But actually most of us are not literary talents, well not in the general discussion pages anyways. Maybe the RP section can get down with the oodles of words about sniffing and skirt straightening, but yeah... in General Discussion and the other regular forums it's best to be clear and concise. 

 

I too was not able to follow 😞

Brevity is the soul of wit: let your speech be “Yes, yes; no, no.” Anything beyond that is evil.

[Caelan Arendor]

 "Let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil" (or similar phrasing) is Matthew 5:37 in the New Testament. 

 

Although I occasionally quote from the Bible, this should in no way be taken to imply that I regard its statements as meaningful or divinely inspired; there are simply too many contradictions—and indeed instances of cruelty that are either permitted or even instigated by God (To set the record straight: it was, of course, not God, but rather the mindset of a human civilization from the Late Bronze Age..) 

By way of example, one might cite misogyny, slavery, and even mass murder—including that of the unborn and of infants… but that would be a chapter in its own right.

 

 

 

[DojoToad]

On 1/28/2026 at 11:36 AM, Caelan Arendor said:

 "Let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil" (or similar phrasing) is Matthew 5:37 in the New Testament. 

 

Although I occasionally quote from the Bible, this should in no way be taken to imply that I regard its statements as meaningful or divinely inspired;

 

I understand that you don't consider the Bible divinely inspired.  But if you don't find it meaningful then why quote it?  Seems a waste...

[Caelan Arendor]

2 hours ago, DojoToad said:

I understand that you don't consider the Bible divinely inspired.  But if you don't find it meaningful then why quote it?  Seems a waste...

Even if the Bible is not divinely inspired, it nevertheless possesses a certain literary significance and stands as a reflection of the civilizational development of a people, from their earliest beginnings through to the Iron Age. For me, the question of the work’s factual truth is secondary when reading it, just as one may appreciate and cherish beautiful passages in belles lettres without feeling compelled to believe that the work is anything more than a literary composition. King Lear and Hamlet hold immense literary value, even though their protagonists are nothing more than fictional figures within a framework created by the author. So do not reproach me, dear friend, if I dare to quote the so-called Holy Scripture, even though I do not believe in talking snakes or donkeys, and if I harbor well-founded doubts that the world is no more than six thousand years old, as apologists would have it.