Hail fellow Pathfinders!
I'll probably be posting several questions on this board as I prepare to launch a PbP set in Lastwall and the Hold of Belkzen in the next few days. I hope they don't all sink below the surface!
Anyway, first question: what is a hopeknife?
The Inner Sea World Guide makes mention of the small town of Trunau . (Manhome to the orcs), the last human settlement surviving within the lands of the Hold of Belkzen. An evocative little passage has this to say: 'Children on their twelfth birthday are presented with a hopeknife and showed precisely which arteries to cut should they or their families be taken alive by the orcish hordes' .
Has a hopeknife ever been statted up as a weapon anywhere? Or is it merely a descriptive name for a dagger?
Hopeknives are small, easily concealable blades that historically were given to young noble women so that, if they were abducted, they would be able to kill themselves so as to die with their virtue intact. If you want to have it statted as a weapon, I would probably use the stats for a kerambit.
Thanks Joe. I've gone with the kerambit as you suggested. I've never heard of hopeknives in a historical context, but I'm certainly intrigued. Is there any chance you can direct me to further reading? :-)
As the person who invented the hopeknife (at least in the context of Trunau), I had no idea that such things already existed in the real world. I guess that just goes to show that truth is indeed stranger than fiction!
I'm with DM Tadpole--links, please!
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Ever since that first hardback I haven't been able to stop wondering about how birthdays go in Trunau. I can't help but imagine it at its lightest being like the Birthday Rock sketch from Kids In The Hall.
Mother: And how do you feel, honey?
Son: ...older.
Mother: *hugs*
@ James: as the hopeknife's creator, I'd be interested in hearing your take on your creation.
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@ James: as the hopeknife's creator, I'd be interested in hearing your take on your creation.
Sure thing, Tadpole! But really, there's not a whole lot to tell beyond what's in the Belkzen writeup in Pathfinder #11. Hopeknives are ceremonial daggers that all children in Trunau are given on their 12th birthdays, and which they carry on their persons at all times. Since Trunau is positioned deep in orc-controlled territory, the threat of attack is constant, and while everybody in town is ready to fight to defend their home, people still sometimes get captured. It's common knowledge in Trunau that being taken alive by orc tribes doesn't end well for anyone--your most likely outcomes are torture, being used as breeding stock to create half-orcs, being eaten, or simply being worked to death as a slave. As a result, everyone in Trunau is raised to prefer death to capture. At the point at which all hope is lost and capture is certain, a resident of Trunau opens his or her own veins, as well as those of any children too young to have hopeknives of their own. Definitely not a happy thing, but the residents of Trunau feel more comfortable knowing that they always have an option of last resort--a final pyrrhic victory against the orcs.
The reason kids are so excited to get their own hopeknives is the same reason kids are always excited to do anything with an age limit--because it's a sign of maturity, responsibility, and acceptance as an adult rather than a child.
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I applaude the fact that Paizo has such Grim concepts in its world.
It makes it feel... Real...
Thanks for the insight James.