> I am in complete agreement. Ambiguity because the same basic
> effect could be used many different ways in different situations is
> cool. Ambiguity due to vagaries of the English language (such as the
> occasional use of the word lightning due to its connotation of
> proverbial speed rather than its direct meaning) is extremely silly.
Or poetic. Besides I do not think it is just a vagary in the English language. I am not a native English speaker, but it makes sense in Swedish, Spanish and, I'm pretty certain, Latin.
Moreover, I am certain that Orlanth's sword is as fast as a flash of lightning. And that his sword sometimes is crackling with electricity.
Oh! And while looking for evidence on romans using lightning as a metaphor for
speed, I happened upon this:
Fulgurator (fulgor - lightning); A haruspex (soothsayer) reading the future,
or rather hte signs, in lightning. Now there is a new feat (or is it a mental
skill?) for Orlanth the Thunderer. Perhaps we want to express it in English,
say Read Lightning?
-- Henrix
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