Weapons for the furies

[ScipioSmith]

So, I am currently writing a scene in which the three furies (since this is a secondary world they are not exactly the mythological furies, but are heavily based on them) emerge from out of the lands of the dead to kill a main character and an antagonist. Each of them carries two weapons, and there is one in particular that I am having trouble assigning weapons too as I would like the armaments to fit each fury's theme.

The three furies that I have are:
Ellyria, the Fury of Wrath, punishes those who commit acts driven by rage. She has hair of fire, and carries a flaming sword in one hand and a knotted club (with blood on it) in the other, the club representing the very primal, primitive nature of the world the furies come from, as well being something you could easily pick up and bash someone's head in with.

Tyria, the Fury of Justice, avenges those who have no other recourse but that the divine itself will take their part: peasants oppressed by a lord, children orphaned, women raped by rich and powerful men. Her hair is a mass of miniature human spines topped with skulls crying out for justice. She carries a stone axe and a whip which she can control telekinetically.

Hamara, the Fury of Jealousy, punishes crimes of envy and spite. She is the one I'm having the most trouble with. The theme I have so far is ice, but I'm not sure that jealousy isn't almost as deserving of fire as wrath is. I was thinking of an ice sword and a poisoned knife, but I don't really like it that much. Does anyone have any better ideas? Or do you think that my ideas for Ellyria and Tyria could do with improving?

 

[wordwalker]

Ellyria and Tyria sound good.

For Hamara, ice and poison seem about right. That is, if Hamara's concerned with envy rather than jealousy, which is closer to anger (and Ellyria) than to spite.

They're different things: jealousy is strictly being paranoid about losing something, envy is comparing yourself to whoever has it. The boyfriend is jealous; the wallflower is envious, and might even admit "I didn't really have to have that girl/job/something, I'm just sick of someone else getting them."

It's an important difference, since jealousy's based on fear and can be immediate and obvious, while envy's got the nasty subtle habit of making you envy something you don't have any visible ties to. Hmm, if it's that, maybe her first weapon should be a javelin (for how envy can strike at a distance), but poison certainly works..

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Just thinking about it I think Ell works well with her choice of weapons, but Tyr seems off. For her given her calling is some sort of justice I'd be tempted to say she should have a mace of some sort. Maces have long been carried by law givers. I'd suggest her other weapon should be some sort of slicing weapon - with the idea of cutting the just parts of a person from the unjust.

As for Ham, the stone axe Tyr loses would work for her. I'm thinking her other weapon might be something ranged, maybe a bow. My thought is that Cupid has a bow and arrows to hit a heart and jealousy, spite and envy are all emotions of the heart. Maybe she needs to do something opposite like rip a heart out. There was a spear in that trilogy of movies about the nephilim starring Christopher Walkin, that had claws on the end, which you could throw or push in to a chest, and then use to rip out a heart. That'd be cool.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Gryphos]

Perhaps Tyria could have some kind of shield with razor sharp edges, as a shield can represent justice nicely.

For Hamara I'd stick with the ice thing and give her a ranged weapon like a javelin or bow that shoots ice-tipped arrows, or poison arrows (or both).

 

[kirai]

For Tyria, instead of a stone axe, perhaps a golden broadsword? Justice in physical form. Just an idea.

As for Hamara, I like Grypho's idea with frozen arrows. And maybe a set of daggers laced with poison/acid. Symbolically, feelings of envy and jealousy are more stealthy and can slowly tear at you.

 

[Kahle]

You might want to explore the difference between justice and vengeance-I know Dragon Age 2 brought up the fine line between the two fairly well. Love what Psychotick is getting at with the mace; bishops in medieval Europe used them in battle because they weren't allowed to spill blood. Hooray for loopholes.

For Hamara, it might depend on how your furies operate. I believe the Greek furies would hound someone throughout their life, not just a single attack. They would wear you down and break your spirit. Ice/cold and poison obviously come to everyone's mind as debilitating and potentially slow and painful. The arrows remind me of the sting of a bees or fly bites-constant, stinging, icing, a new wound every time the pain from the last fades..