A little musing on UA and Micromail

[Anonymous]

Not a rant, no worries, just something that came to mind upon starting to read Thud:

Not to say this is foreshadowing or something, but Pepe's great invention saves the wearer from impact-damage and redirects the force back at the attacker. And because Micromail is so light and 'doesn't chafe' it allows the wearer to move faster.
It's just a musing, but it strikes me as odd as to why someone who counts himself as a dwarf and has the attitute of knowing life better than anyone else would create something with these properties if it is just there to look pretty.
The pretty look and the 'no chafe' I could understand.
But creating something for dwarves that protects them from impact damage, as in the damage usually coming from troll attacks...

Just musing as said....

 

[Tonyblack]

I read it as a parody of mithril steel.

 

[Anonymous]

Me too (I think somewhere in the text the actual translation of Mithril is given). But the possibility that Pratchett is foreshadowing here is there, isn't it?

 

[One Man Bucket]

I put it down to dwarves being a practical people. In essence for function to match form he had to invent something never seen before

 

[Anonymous]

It was already ultra light and 'didn't chafe'. That WAS a function never seen before

 

[One Man Bucket]

There's the possibility that he simply stumbled upon it rather than made it with the intention of it returning whatever force is directed against it. He'd have no reason to scrap it since it would still have the functions he wanted so here we are

 

[Anonymous]

views may vary, but I had the distinguished impression that he aimed for all these effects. It might not have been on purpose from Sir Terry's side (except for that very, very flat and stale groinkicking 'joke') but it gives interesting possibilities to muse.

 

[One Man Bucket]

The impression I got was it was accidental but he's looking into exploiting said properties hence him wearing it himself and giving some to the Beckham analogue. I expect in a few years that the Low King's guards and all dwarfs who seriously deal in violence will be wearing it. Other dwarfs will stick with what they've got now because it isn't Clang if it's subtle.