[Dragaera] Verra and the Paths of the Dead

[Howard Brazee]

Scott Schultz wrote:
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> Spoiler space for Taltos and for Dolivar
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>> ..or  maybe it's the other way around -- he was deliberately reincarnated
>> as an Easterner for this life, so he could help out in the Paths this one
>> important time.  Or because Verra intuited it would be helpful.
>>     
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> I believe this to be the case, though I don't believe it had anything to do 
> with saving Morollan's life.
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> The biggest problem I have with the business of the blood being Vlad's 
> instead of Verra's is that it implies many levels of deception on the part 
> of Verra and possibly Sethra for no particularly good reason. 
The trouble with this argument is that Verra is a god.   Not only do we 
not know what entails "no good reason" for gods, we are making 
assumptions based upon human psychology that gods are not capricious nor 
interested in lying for its own sake.

But religions are full of trickster gods.   Admittedly, this is because 
we use our religions to explain what happens to us - while Dragaera has 
other uses for its gods.

> The "don't 
> come back" threat to Vlad was real, regardless of whether it was his blood 
> or his metaphysical makeup that allowed him to leave. The Lords of Judgement 
> just had to imprison him until he fell asleep and that would be that. Aliera 
> could leave but she couldn't stay. (Devera appears unusual in this regard.) 
> If Vlad's blood was enough, or even Aliera's, then Verra could have been 
> much more direct about how to save Morrolan. As far as Verra was concerned 
> right then, Morollan was a dead man whose soul would soon be standing facing 
> its Judgement.
>   
How often are gods direct in such help?    Indirect help is the nature 
of gods.

> I dunno. I can see why the speculation arises but I have a difficult time 
> with speculations that hinge on supposing that some major plot points in 
> previous stories were, in fact, lies without any evidence to support that 
> assertion.
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OK.