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The Parchment Cylinder

Also See: Cardboard Tube Samurai

Origins

The Parchment Cylinder appears in books Four, Seven and Twelve of the Cycle, seemingly called upon as and when needed.

Appearance

The art that appeared on the Parchment Cyl card in the WEB-CCG showed it as a rolled up cylinder of parchment, though as many of the CCG images differed wildly from the descriptions in the novels it can hardly be taken as a definitive description and seems more in keeping with The Cardboard Tube of Unusual Sharpness and Popularity, which has never appeared in the CCG.

Attributes

The strength of this apparantly magical weapon varies each time: sometimes it is able to cleave an Evilnor in half, while later in the Cycle it merely gives Ekezenthal a rash. Whether this changing strength is part of the Cylinder's nature, or perhaps due to the powers or thoughts of the caster, or even just caused by lazy writing, is never adequately explained. In fact, aside from being mentioned the four times it is used (twice in Book 7) the Cylinder is not mentioned at all.

Theories and Web Site

Many theories abound in fan fiction and on discussion boards, including one popular theory that the parchment cylinder is actually The Cardboard Tube of Unusual Sharpness and Popularity, however the in Book 12 the Cylinder is used while P'km'n the Hungry is wielding The Tube. Some have therefore theorised that the Cylinder is the original weapon from the stories which inspired Gragnakas to create the Tube; this would explain its apparant magical ability to appear when needed, though not the lack of any kind of explanation in the text. It is also speculated by many that the Cylinder and the Cardboard Tube are one and the same weapon; it is never explicitly stated but evidence points in that direction.

A popular - and rather speculative - fan site used to be located at parchment-cylinder.org, though that site closed in October 2004.

(See also Cylinder and Tube Theories)