Meta Month 6 - Laguz, Weaponry, and Transformation

[amielleon]

Nasir
Ike, you will never truly understand a matter unless you look at it from each party's perspective. As you say, the laguz are indeed now persecuted by the beorc. But long ago, these roles were reversed.
- PoR ch 12

I know it says somewhere that the beorc managed to grab the upper hand with the invention of weaponry and magic, but I'm at work so the resources I have on hand for PoR are quite limited. I assume you all remember this and are willing to take me at my word on this one?

It seems strange that a people beaten back by weapons would not try to study these weapons and use them for themselves.

Now, it is true that in a base conversation in PoR 10, Lethe says,

Weapons of steel are a human weakness. Without them, you cannot fight properly.

And yet, that conversation continues to say,

Ike
But...Lethe, you're carrying a dagger, aren't you? In the scabbard on your leg?

Lethe
This...is not for fighting.

Ike
Then what is it for?

Lethe
I use it to remove small bones from meat. It can also cut fruit into bite-sized pieces. It has proven quite useful.

Ike
Hmm...

Lethe
What? If you've got something to say, spit it out!

Ike
You despise beorc, but you don't mind beorc-crafted tools?

Lethe
If something's good, it's good. Denying something's obvious worth out of petty spite is foolish.

And certainly, there is some merit in having your weapon right at the end of your hands at your command all the time--

Oh, wait, laguz can only maintain their transformed states for limited periods of time. And even then it seems a well-trained master of weapons can prove a match for them.

And yet punching the other guy in the gut is a better option than taking up some bladework on the side?

I don't believe it's because laguz are physiologically unable to handle beorc weaponry. Lehran demonstrates for us that, over who knows how many years, the herons are able to master beorc schools of magic. (I suspect the other herons' lack of proficiency in this area comes from lack of available teachers more than anything else.)

As for physical weaponry? Why wouldn't they be able to swing an axe crudely as well as every other generic bandit? Look at those muscles ffs, it doesn't take that much skill to smash someone's head in!

That all leads me to a conclusion rather distant from the beginnings of this post: The laguz need to rest to recover their "transformation gauge". Fighting with weaponry would hinder the pace of their recovery, and so they have never bothered to attempt to master weapon fighting as their natural talents have far better potential.

I don't think it's that far-fetched a conclusion. There may be verbiage elsewhere to suggest such a thing anyway, and in the storyline, the laguz have always un-transformed when grievously wounded.

Unfortunately, this picture is far from decisive.

The very mysterious mechanic working against this idea is that their transformation gauge actually increases when attacked in derp form, or when they use magic cards and do no damage, so...

Normally I wouldn't take game mechanics at its word, but very little is given about the nature of the laguz's limited ability to transform. I hesitate to throw away any hints. After all, if we were to say "well it's just a game!" there's really no reason to ponder the laguz's lack of weaponry ability at all.

Thoughts?

Comments

[arivess.livejournal.com]

Um. I've never really thought about it, honestly. I've just kinda taken it at face-ish value when... uh... I think it was either Ranulf or Lethe said they didn't like the stink of metal? I think it's just, the smell offends them, and messes with their ability to track/hunt, so while they can use something small like Lethe's tiny dagger, they can't really go around in full weapon/armor because that will cloud their senses too much.

That, and the weapons likely don't transform with them. So how are they going to attack in beast form with a sword or axe or whatnot strapped to their back? It'll be like having a permanently rescued unit. >.>; Or even if weight isn't an issue, it'd still be more likely to throw them off-balance, or get caught on things.

[amielleon]

Wood and stone! I think the ability to not be completely vulnerable in tribe form would be huuuuge, as the game treats it as their Achilles' heel.

The weapon transforming thing isn't really an additional issue, since they can carry seven items of any type already. Magic it like their clothes, or Lethe's dagger.

Heck, the ability to fight with daggers would really do a lot in itself.

[raphiael]

I guess you could combine both your theory and the mechanic. Like, perhaps utilizing weaponry would signal whatever internal mechanism pushes them toward transformation, and in a way you don't see in-game, limits the time they have to really rest between transformations? Kind of like getting on a weird sleep schedule, maybe.