[Dragaera] Ten New Questions after Dzur. [Dzur Spoilers]

[Scott Schultz]

****** If you didn't already see it in the subject, thar be spoilers here 
*******


I'll bite.

>Here are ten new Vlad questions I have after reading /Dzur/:

>1. Will Vlad's newfound knowledge of his son cause him to
>change his wandering ways?

I suspect that will depend on how dangerous it is for him to be near his 
son. Vlad would have to make peace with the Jhereg, which seems like an 
unlikely occurence.

>2. How will Cawti react if Vlad wants to stay and help raise their son?

Good question. The possibility of a reconciliation is always there. Vlad 
tried to walk a mile in Cawti's shoes, as best as he was able. Vlad's 
departure had an effect on Cawti; her revolutionary tendencies appear to 
have mellowed somewhat and she's now had a chance to walk a mile in his 
shoes as well. Orca showed pretty clearly that Cawti still cares about Vlad 
in some fashion. Vlad and Cawti are technically still married; we don't 
really have an idea how divorce works for Easterners. The problem is that 
neither of them is really sure where they stand right now or whether they 
have a marriage still to salvage. Cawti is a proud woman and she's also 
clearly fearful of losing a bit of the control as a parent should Vlad be 
interested in being a father. I think that if Vlad was careful of her 
feelings and took things slow, that she would welcome his return as a father 
provided that she was reassured that she was not going to lose status as a 
mother.

There's room for reconciliation if Vlad and Cawti can each get past their 
hurt pride, their broken hearts, and their individual fears that caring that 
much about the other means losing part of themselves in the process.

>3. How will Vlad handle his predestined "test of wills" with Lady Teldra 
>(aka Godslayer)?

This kind of question actually doesn't interest me all that much. Given that 
it's Lady Teldra that we're talking about, if such a thing happens I trust 
that Steve will make it interesting.

>4. Will Vlad's aid to The Demon lead to an eventual truce with the Right 
>Hand of the Jhereg?

Not in and of itself. The Demon has always appreciated Vlad's unique talents 
and I think that he, more than anyone, probably deplores the way that things 
went down. The thing is, in stereotypical mafia families such as the Jhereg, 
"face" is more important than anything. You can't let people get away with 
what Vlad did because it could lead to others trying to duplicate his feat. 
For Vlad to be able to return and live peacefully, there would have to be 
some major, public, retribution that stopped just short of perma-death and 
appeared to settle the matter. I can't imagine what that thing might be.

>5. Will Vlad's actions against the Left Hand lead to all out war?

That was pretty clearly a personal vendetta. The Left Hand looks to  me to 
be only loosly organized like the rest of the Jhereg. I don't see them 
engaging in a war, per se. However, I would expect Vlad to on the lookout 
for any member of the Bitch Patrol, no matter what accomodation he might 
finally come to with the Jhereg council.

>6. What was Verra doing with Vlad's blood?

Too little information. Some have specualted that the blood in the vial was 
Vlad's own blood, not Verra's. My only question is why do that and why lie 
about it?

>7. Will Morrolan ever talk to Vlad again?

I'm frankly puzzled by the reactions of Aliera and Morrolan regarding the 
death of Teldra. Vlad was not responsible for her death, and Morollan, at 
least, ought to be conversant with the theories behind the birth of Great 
Weapons. It seems that they really did consider Teldra a friend rather than 
just a trusted servant. In any case, her death was her own doing. Given that 
it was a Morganti death, why would they be upset that Vlad managed to 
preserve some part of her nature instead of letting her be destroyed 
utterly?

Once Morollan gets over his grief, he'll probably be very curious about 
Godslayer. Perhaps he and "Lady Teldra" will have something to say to each 
other. If Teldra acted as his High Priestess, then they may have been lovers 
of one sort or another, even if Vlad never stopped to consider that such a 
thing was within the realm of possibility.

>8. Does Sethra have plans for Vlad? And, if so, might these conflict with 
>the plans laid by Verra?

So far, Sethra has never "used" Vlad. She's asked him for assistance and 
sought his advice and given aid whenever he's requested it. However 
complicated the reasons, Sethra, IMO, considers Vlad a friend, first and 
foremost. You can argue that a campaigner like Sethra sees everyone as 
chess piece on a chess board, but I don't think Sethra really looks at life 
that way. Just individual problems.

>9. What role will Aliera and Pathfinder have to play in Vlad's future with 
>Lady Teldra (aka Godslayer)?

Too little information. The Serioli was the one who said that Pathfinder, 
though designed to work in conjunction with Godslayer ("You find 'em, I'll 
deal with 'em") turned out to be something more than what it was intended to 
be. One of the bigger questions to ask is "If the Great Weapons have an 
active intelligence, does that mean that they are capable of having their 
own agenda, completely seperate from that of the Gods or the Serioli?"

>10. What will Vlad order at his next trip to Valabar's? Will he walk away 
>with adequate satiety? Inquiring minds want to know.

Whatever it is, it's bound to involve a lot of wine and a lot of garlic. ;-)