Mehrunes' Razor

I have come to as close as I can see, the end of my adventures in the realm of Tamriel in the Cyrodillian Empire which is on the verge of collapse.

That may sound very strange to those of you who are not gamers, but I have spent over 200 hours in a game that is about as rich as any novel I have ever read. I'm not sure there are any books I've ever spent that much time in. Anyway, the game is Oblivion and I have finally mastered just about every aspect of it, and I took my time. It is widely acknowledged as one of the best role playing games ever, and obviously I agree. It is the second that I've played in the Elder Scrolls series, and whereas I tired of working the first one, this one kept my attention all the way through, and still does. Except now I want to be evil.

I rather hope that my experience in the game is instructive and somehow indicative of human nature. It basically works like this, although there are simple pleasure kind of exceptions, once you have done all the good anyone expects of you, your attention and desires turn to evil. This is precisely where I now stand as Champion of Cyrodil, Arch Mage of the Mage's Guild, Master of the Fighter's Guild, Grand Champion of the Arena and Listener of the Dark Brotherhood. I've saved the empire, as it were, now I want to see what damage I can do.

And fortunately, the creators of the game have made an added package which allows you to quest for the ultimate weapon, a blade called 'Mehrunes' Razor' which allows you to kill enemies with one blow. I doesn't work all of the time. In fact, it's less reliable than other weapons I have used, and herein lies something we may add to Cobb's Rules as 'Mehrunes' Razor':

Given the chance to kill with one blow, one will strike as many times as necessary.

And still you will not doubt the weapon, because you have seen it work. In fact, this is exactly what happened in the game. The first time I used the weapon, it worked as advertized. I slew a Gloom Wraith, a not inconsequential creature, on the first shot. Subsequently it took six or seven blows to defeat enemies with the Razor.

I see this pearl of wisdom in the context of a couple other aphorisms. One is "What do you give the man who has everything: An irresistable opportunity the throw it all away". And "People don't have weaknesses, they merely overuse their strengths."