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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 5680945" data-attributes="member: 22779">But, if "elf knives" are left over from elf-orc wars, then why aren't there more of them?  After all, orcs and goblins are a common enough threat in Middle Earth that having something that can tell you when they're around would be pretty durn handy.I'd say you've shown my point rather handily.  I'm not going to go point by point here because it's not going to go anywhere.  As I said, I was painting with a broad brush.  I look at Conan, with monsters under every rock, wizards all over the place, heck, it's got GODS hanging around in the middle of the city (The Tower of the Elephant).  If this kind of thing is possible, then it's possible to exploit.  The one ring is most certainly not uncontrollable - if it was, then why would Sauron want it.  Granted, it's not controllable by anyone else, BUT THAT'S THE POINT.  The One Ring is a total plot device.  Look at it like this.  Someone makes the One Ring, so, now it's known that it is possible to do.  Yet, no one, in all the history of the Middle Earth, thinks, "Hey, that's a pretty nifty idea - I think I'll get me one of those too." and copies the idea?That would be what I'm talking about.  None of the fantastic is ever exploited in LotR, despite it being fairly easy and/or obvious that it quite possible could be exploited.  Not that this makes LotR a bad book.  It doesn't.  It's totally a taste thing.  There's nothing wrong with using magic as a plot point.  It's a tried and true method and it's been done rather successfully for a long time.  My point is that it's not the only way of doing things.  I tend to see it more in fantasy but, that again makes sense.  Nobody breeds the Pegasus in Greek myth because it's the freaking Pegasus and totally not the point of the story.Upthread Robert Jordan got mentioned.  My personal favorite for this is Steven Erikson who has truly created a setting where he explores the consequences and whatnot of the existence of the fantastic in his world.  Heck, his various races actually evolve around magic.  Very well done IMO.</blockquote>

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