[Dragaera] Dzur Quibbles (spoilers)- also, Issola and Taltos Spoilers -- time line issues

[Peter H. Granzeau]

At 05:59 PM 8/20/2006, ND Montague wrote:

>Hello, I'm a newbie.  As I understand the description,
>these question are allowed for the list -- if I
>misunderstood, my apologies.  These questions involve
>several of the books -- I reread the Vlad and (well,
>at least skimmed) most of the V of A books before I
>read Dzur.  And now I'm going to reread the Phoenix
>Guards and 500 years after.  And then, since Mr. Brust
>is writing so slowly, I may have to reread the Three
>Musketeers, Twenty Years After, the Vicomte de
>Bragelonne and Louise de la Valierre (not really - but
>those are actually the Alexandre Dumas books. Possibly
>not spelled correctly.)
>
>Also, I didn't see these issues raised previously, but
>I just found this list, so apologies if this is
>redundant.
>
>Oh, this means that anything that has been revealed
>outside of the books I've missed entirely, if there is
>anything.
>
>I have some major questions about continuity:
>
>Spoiler Space
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>In Taltos, Morrolan and/or Sethra state,
>
>1. Aliera's soul had been disembodied, but trapped in
>a staff, since shortly after the Interregnum (which
>was hundreds of years ago -- I can find the figure but
>haven't bothered.)
>
>2. Vlad assisted them in embodying Aliera's soul in
>"Taltos" - chronologically the first Vlad adventure.
>
>3. Vlad is an Easterner (homo sapien, I think - or
>pretty close) with a life span of 70 years (although
>granted I'm not sure how long a year is on this
>planet. Still, they all use the same year.)
>
>4. Vlad states (well, thinks) in Dzur that the 20
>years the young Dzurlord (I'm not going to go look him
>up right now) spent studying wizardry was more than
>half his own (Vlad's) lifespan, so Vlad is under 40
>years old.
>
>5. I haven't looked for a chronology, but in the
>absolute most generous estimate, Vlad's (recorded)
>adventures may conceivably have happened over a period
>of 20 years.

I think that at one point many years ago, Steve made a point that 
everything that had happened to Vlad had happened in a relatively 
short time.  I don't know how old Vlad is as of _Dzur_, but I believe 
he was still in his 20s at the end of _Phoenix_.

>So, to summarize: In the most generous interpretation
>of the timeline, Aliera regained a Dragheran body 20
>years ago.
>
>Therefore: How the heck could Kragar have been
>introduced to Mario by Aliera -- trapped in a staff at
>the time -- 90 years ago? (which he states is what
>happened in conversation with Vlad - so is he lying?
>Or is there another explanation?  And why wouldn't
>Vlad pick up on the discrepancy - this having Verra
>mess with his memories allows a lot of leeway to Mr.
>Brust, IMO.)

Let us introduce you to the concept of the unreliable narrator.  Vlad 
could always have misremembered what he was told.

>Another point:
>Also, in Taltos -- Sethra Lavode stated emphatically -
>several times - that she COULD NOT leave Dzur Mountain
>at that time
>
>And yet, somehow, Kiera the Thief, who as we learned
>in Issola, is Sethra Lavode in disguise, somehow
>managed to procure for Vlad tools appropriate for a
>thief and train him in their use, and I think it is
>safe to assume that this did not happen in Dzur
>Mountain.
>
>So, the simplest explanation is that Sethra lied and
>was able to leave the mountain -- but why did she lie?

Simple.  She would have to claim she was unable to leave Dzur 
Mountain if Kiera the Thief is to be someplace else, teaching Vlad 
how to burgle.  Normally, she lives there in isolation, so no one 
(except Tukko/Chaz) would know if she were there or not.

>Next: There's the question Mr. Brust raised himself
>about why Darkwand, wielded by Morrolan, didn't
>obliterate Loraan in Taltos. Presumably that will be
>explained. The only 2 possible explanations, based on
>what we have been told about Morganti weapons - is
>that the sword wound in Loraan's body (spotted by Vlad
>when he regained consciousness) wasn't caused by
>Darkwand. Or, that the body was not in fact Loraan's
>-- twin or clone or simulcrum, perhaps - but one that
>came within a hair of defeating Morrolan in battle.
>
>I've been rereading everything in the Vlad series, and
>Viscount of Adrilahnka (Sp?) series, preparing for
>Dzur, but I didn't realize until very recently how
>developed this fandom is. Apparently Aliera is
>referenced in the Phoenix Guards/500 Years after. I'll
>have to reread them also.

Aliera's birth is noted in _The Phoenix Guards_.  She would have been 
500 years old at the time of Adron's Disaster, then, so a reference 
wouldn't have been inconceivable (although the book certainly isn't about her).


-- 
Regards, Pete
pgranzeau at cox.net