And again I am asking questions which shouldn't be asked... Why *are* there questions which shouldn't be asked? We live in a free land! 
...Well, each of us does live in [b]a[/b] free land, even if it isn't necessarily the exact same free land. 
(More things to look forward to as we progress further into the story, I guess...)

Yeah... Philosophical matters indeed (though I *did* warn I might end up in some such place). Then again, arguably from the moment onward "living" or "not living" starts to have a part in the mechanics of the world, it would stop being a philosophical matter and start being a, well, physical fact (or something of the kind). 
(...If possession of unique soul would except some plants due to sharing one according to one branch, wouldn't it simply mean the said colony of plants in entirety is alive? Animals are colonies of cells, too...) If I wanted to go even more philosophical, I could start wondering over how free a being's will is, since usually someone will act or decide in a certain way because they are that kind of a person sum with past experiences and the information available for them at the time of deciding. 

The relation of soul and brain was touched, somewhat, mostly in relation to how things such as brain damage, multiple personality disorder, sociopathy and other various deviations work out in regards to it. (And some types of damage - those which permanently alter thinking - apparently work out differently in there, causing soul-splitting and other interesting stuff...) Still haven't gotten any closer to why a body couldn't technically function - though magic-, and afterlifelessly (not sure how the "normal" way dreams are produced fits in Reniam) - without a soul (having never had one), as all of its processes are either purely automatic (as in, don't even require a brain to oversee) or brain-controlled (with soul doubling some of those). 

As for the mind existing separately from the body... Well... Mind not being the pretty much physical result of something that brain does? 

You can half-sword a rather sharp sword without any fear - I have seen it bare-handed demonstrated live with a sword that was indeed at least borderline razor-sharp (likewise demonstrated to be a fact) ... and then it was not simply in the way of grabbing hold of the blade to guide it, but properly held in reverse and taken a full-strength swing with - with which, if the sword's hilt had actually hit a head, would most likely have killed regardless of any potential helmets.
(How sharp is Roct, exactly? Jaelnec's furthermore wearing gauntlets, after all... Admittedly I have mostly imagined it more being indeed [i]perpetually[/i] sharp - not needing to be sharpened, not notching, not ... doing any of the things blades generally do as a result of cutting and being bashed against other hard objects - than being [i]significantly [/i]sharper than, say, razor blades... It may be a bit hard to characterize cutting capabilities past that by example. And Roct (with your usual longsword being somewhere between 1.2-1.6kg) would furthermore weigh some 200-300 grams only...)
 - I can get a scythe sharp enough to reliably cut through both grass and finger-thickness saplings (and grass especially tends to just flatten out rather than being cut through if the blade that is swung at it is not being sharp enough) using the traditional sharpening method easily enough, and I am not even good at it. ...As for why I would use and own a scythe in the first place, then it has actually proven the most reliable method for keeping the edges of my pond in check... Lawnmower would either drown or constantly get stuck and the electric trimmer would require me to circle around the entire house with the wires (or throw the extension cord out of a second floor window on the back of my house, I guess?) and then diagonally across half of the lot, and then there are some things which don't want to run over wires, and the matter of getting to the rear end of the pond and onto the semi-peninsula section of it ... and [i]all[/i] waterproof extension-cords maybe shouldn't be submerged, at least not the linking sections? Yeah, not worth it. Scythe is easier. 
...I can don my long black coat, too, and then I can play lady Grim Reaper, if I want, though he fact that my scythe has a metal shaft isn't probably appropriate. 
 - As for why I asked the question in the first place, then it was due to a side-discussion about some general cluelessness in regards to how swords work, in movies and fiction especially. "You hold it by the sharp end, right?" ...Why, yes, you sometimes *do* want to do it. Figured I'd inquire since I couldn't really recall you writing it (in the RP, novel, or other RPs).

(I intended to comment on the new banner before it was asked about - I noticed it about as soon as it was put up, I think -, but it seems I was a bit late with that. It is nice. I like the change.)

***

@cthulu: A post? Thaler's waking up? Aemoten's going to be immensely relieved, though he probably wouldn't know what to pay the most attention to again. 
- Should I refrain from posting until then? I wouldn't mind either way, since I have some stuff to do today. Aemoten - as it currently is - wouldn't be doing that much besides some thinking and speaking about two lines, so it probably wouldn't make a significant change in what you'd post.
To recap, he is currently sitting on the bed right next to Thaler's upper body (and has probably instinctively tried to shift himself to be more in between Thaler and the lieutenant), though his head is turned halfway away at the moment so he can better watch the head of the guards' actions. He already managed to heal her hand and shoulder, but there might still be some minor bruises/scratches left elsewhere.