Supernatural Muslim Fighters

[ahunting]

The books sort of imply that a Muslim would have no problem carrying a Sword of the Cross. Your actual faith doesn't seem to matter specifically, just qualitatively.. I know that at one point, the parable of the blind men and the elephant is used. All religions are facets of the same God seems to be the canon of the Dresdenverse.

There's also nothing that contradicts Islam having its owns set of swords... Alles Verboten?

[Jeckel]

The knife Abraham was going to use to sacrifice Ishmael is the center of one of the overriding plot arc in the multi-campaign rp I doing now, as is a short spear made from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and given to Adam by god when he and Eve were banished. For something similar to the Swords of the Cross, you could have appropriate weapons with some grains of rock worked in; the grains coming from the Foundation Stone where Muhammad accompanied Gabriel to heaven.

Really, finding thematic examples of cool magicy things from religion is super easy. Heck, if you take them all at face value (Dresdenverse wise), there are booty loads of "holy" artifacts lost around the world, just waiting for some enterprising adventurer to find and take them up. Islam specificly is even easier as you can still pull from both Judaism and Christianity, just have to give it that Muslim tint (Note how my mentioned knife was going to be used to sacrifice Ishmael and not Isaac).

[Chris M]

There's also nothing that contradicts Islam having its owns set of swords... Alles Verboten?

It certainly doesn't contradict, but a Muslim DID carry a Sword of the Cross.

[Ravangames]

Light is Noor or Nur as Nuristan meaning "Land of Light" (or it could be translated as the Enlightened)

It would probably be something like Sayef al Nur meaning "Sword of Light". You could also go with "Zulficar". This was the name of the sword that Mohammed carried.

Hope the helps.

nice... is there a plural form of Sayef?  Or would it be Sayef al Nurs?

[Ravangames]

Just talked to my Muslim friend and he gave me some good suggestions so I thought I would share.  With pronunciations to boot!



Uli albass (Those who strike first) - "ooli el albaas"
Al-Lajna (The Council) - "al laj na"
Al-Akhwan (The Brothers) "al ik waan"
Al-Ansar (The Supporters (of God)) - "al ansaar"
Mujahideen Alnour (Warriors of Light) -"Moo jah hid deen al noor"

BTW if you read this Moe, thanks!

[Ophidimancer]

What about King Solomon's Ring as an Item of Power?  It would probably grant a lot of power over beings of the Nevernver.

[Sh33p]

What about King Solomon's Ring as an Item of Power?  It would probably grant a lot of power over beings of the Nevernver.

That one always struck me as being more Judaic than the others.

Solomon was Merlin back before crusty blue celtic madmen knew what the word "bathing" meant.

[Shecky]

That one always struck me as being more Judaic than the others.

Not much of a surprise, considering the common roots of Islam and Judeo-Christianity. Solomon is part of all 3.

[Ophidimancer]

If you want to make him a bit more Muslim call him Suleiman.

[Sh33p]

If you want to make him a bit more Muslim call him Suleiman.

Might cause confusion though, as the name Suleiman is more associated with this guy in the West.

He's even got a statue or two in DC.

[Lanir]

I don't think there would need to be a specific change to the swords or the champions who wield them to brand them as something more Muslim. The only problem with them so far is that they're supposed to get their power because they have a nail from the cross and that isn't consistent with Islamic stories right? It's pretty easy to add some spin to what powers an artifact. It's not like anyone will take the thing apart to find out.

A possible idea: Let's say you focus on Saladin as an example of a champion. Before his death he had given away most of his possessions and money. Perhaps the Swords were forged using pieces of his armor or weaponry which were melted down. Another possibility is a legend about scrolls embedded in the hilts of the swords, wrapped around the tang of the blade. What they say and who wrote them could be as significant as you want it to be. The characters may not ever see these scrolls but then the Swords are implements of faith, not science. Proof is optional.

[Bruce Coulson]

The items (swords, daggers, jewelry, what-have-you), were, according to legend, found by Saladin shortly after he conquered/reclaimed Jerusalem (without the slaughter that the Crusaders indulged in..).  Their actual origin is unknown; the faithful say that they were given to Saladin (and the faithful who followed him) by Allah to work towards protecting the Faithful and spreading the Faith without cruelty, or slaughter of the innocent.  Hence, they are meant to be used against the true enemies of the Faithful, the supernatural monsters who prey on mankind.

[Shecky]

Might cause confusion though, as the name Suleiman is more associated with this guy in the West.

He's even got a statue or two in DC.

I'm from the west and never heard of that guy. Suleiman as a parallel spelling of Solomon, I've heard of.

[tymire]

You could make swords with simular powers sure, however I wouldn't make them have the same purpose of the Swords of the Cross as they shouldn't be tied them the Denarians at all.  The nails of the cross and the 30 pieces of coins silver have significant ties to eachother and bringing something in from another faith.. no ... just ... no...

If you really want to make a new item of power based on a religion (any) pick a parable, story, lesson, or whatever as a focus and decide from there what the item should be, but more importantly determine WHY and HOW it should be used.  The Lore and Background of the item should be MUCH more important than refresh or anything related to game mechanics.

[Sh33p]

You could make swords with simular powers sure, however I wouldn't make them have the same purpose of the Swords of the Cross as they shouldn't be tied them the Denarians at all.  The nails of the cross and the 30 pieces of coins silver have significant ties to eachother and bringing something in from another faith.. no ... just ... no...

As has been pointed out already: All the Abrahamic religions are basically variations on the same thing in the DV. Agnostics, Muslims, and a Shinto-Baptist have been known to carry the Swords, so it's not impossible that other pieces of Godly Fun are lying around tied to the Swords and the Denarians.

Plus the Swords don't even stick to their own (declared) mission much of the time. It's not unreasonable for other artifacts to pop up that would have missions intersecting with them or running parallel.