[Dragaera] Just got ahold of Dzur

[Davdi Silverrock]

(spoiler space)

Out
came
a
dragon
from
her
den,
fa la lanky down dilly,
That
killed
God
knows
how
many
men,
fa la lanky down dilly.


On 8/26/06, Steve Rapaport wrote:

>
> Right, that's what I gathered.  So how is he helping her by interfering? She
> either wins or loses South Adrilankha, which aside from her own
> stubbornness, doesn't mean much to her either way.

Why do you insist that South Adrilankha "doesn't mean much to her
either way"?  The whole reason that her marriage to Vlad was strained
in the first place is because the treatment of Easterners (who make up
the bulk of the population of South Adrilankha) was enormously
important to her.  She was willing to make quite a few sacrifices in
her life - and nearly sacrificed her life itself - for to improve the
lot of Easterners.

What happens to South Adrliankha is *enormously* important to her.

>
> But more questions are bugging me:
> > >
> > > * Why does Vlad want to blame stuff on Verra?

> >
> > Because Verra has been using him and manipulating him for years, and now
> > he has discovered tampering with his memory

(&c)

>
> Ok, I'd gathered all that, but that's just what gods do.

Is it?  To that degree?  No, I think her messing with Vlad is
excessive and unusual.  At least, it is for him.

>Why the need to blame her NOW?

Because he's pissed off, NOW.  And because he needs some high-level
help, NOW.  See below.

>  And she's still not obviously involved in the Left Hand or
> South Adrilankha, except for sending a dream to help Vlad out.

She doesn't send the dream until he confronts her and negotiates with
her into doing so.

>
> > > * The strained dynamic between Vlad and Daymar

> > Vlad's pissed off already when Daymar gets there. He says so, and I
> > believe even apologizes.

> Yes, but he doesn't get any more civil, and he keeps on stopping Daymar from
> explaining stuff he (Vlad) probably needs to know.
>

Daymar is a specialist.  Vlad might be able to learn Daymar's
speciality, but he doesn't have the time or patience.  He just wants
Daymar's specialist knowledge that can help him.

Now, if it were me, I'd be interested in learning all about Daymar's
skills and how they work.  But Vlad is less curious and more
goal-oriented.  It's partly just personality, and partly a tactical
decision to limit the conversation to how Daymar's knowledge can help
with the specific situation he had to deal with right at that time -
and there was a certain immediacy to the situation that limited how
much he could allow Daymar to digress into details.