[ArM5] Re: Re: Accumulation of wounds in combat

[Leif Olav Jøsang]

Mikael Johansson wrote:

>>>>Is there a need for a rule? It's just automatic.
>>>
>>>No it is not automatic, there are quite a few
>>>examples passed down in chronicles, where an
>>>executioner needed several blows to kill the convicted.
>>
>>But he kills the convicted each time, doesn't he?
>>
> 
> 
> The distinction is not entirely trivial. If the executioner strikes
> once, fails to kill, and then some sort of attack (or incoming pardon,
> or what not) interrupts the execution, the convicted would survive
> albeit hurt. Typical example of how automatic kill and the potential
> for a prolonged killing process interfer.
> 

This happens because executioners had rules to follow. Heads needed to 
be cut off. Ideally cleanly. In combat you are not bound by such 
sillyness. Slit the poor, immobile fellow's throat. Unless you pull a 
spoon in stead of a knife, even an executioner could not fail this.

-- 
Leif Olav Jøsang
ArM Code 1.5 5+ Ca R H+ ?L G+ Y94 T(4-6)+ SG+ P HoH(V++, Ty++, Hg--) 
FZ(E)++ C+ E- :-D Cd++

"You can nose a chemist in a crowd by the smell of the laboratory which 
hangs about him; you can pick him out by the stains on his hands and 
clothes."

-M. M. Pattison Muir, 1902