[Dragaera] Just got ahold of Dzur

[Peter H. Granzeau]

At 04:14 AM 8/26/2006, Steve Rapaport wrote:
>(And read it at one sitting.  Too short!)
>
>But now that I'm skimming through the last 2 weeks' spoilers on the list, a
>couple of late answers:
>(spoilers)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Now I'm going to have to go back and re-read this thing a few times to see
>if I get more satisfied about:
>
>* Why is simply giving South Adrilankha up to whatever faction not an option
>for Cawti or Vlad?  Neither of them wants it.  How is Vlad saving Cawti
>somehow by helping?  I expect I'll catch this on the second time through.

Cawti wants there to be no Organization in South Adrilankha.  Since 
this would leave a vacuum (into which the Organization would 
immediately move), she seems to have settled for a kinder, gentler 
Organization, but still has lost control.  Norathar (her former 
partner) and friends (not including Aliera, it seems) have gotten 
involved (not a Good Thing if Norathar is the Dragon Heir), and it 
appears that what is moving in is not the Organization, but rather, 
the Left Hand of the Jhereg.  Vlad is not only helping Cawti, he is 
also helping the House of the Dragon (hence, Aliera's 
interest).  Overall, his saving Cawti will do a lot of Good Things 
for others, too, and it's something that (when he runs his monstrous 
bluff, it's the Jhereg, both hands, that blink).

>But more questions are bugging me:
>
>* Why does Vlad want to blame stuff on Verra?  Aside from some memories
>coming back, I didn't see any reason to believe that she was responsible for
>(or even interested in) any of the books' events.

Vlad seems not to appreciate Verra's attention, ever.  And we can't 
say that her attention has ever done anything good for him, either, 
not directly nor immediately.

>* The strained dynamic between Vlad and Daymar makes even less sense than
>ever.  They learn from each other each time they meet, and Vlad has long
>since accepted Daymar's literal thinking, yet he can't stop jibing at
>Daymar.  Even Daymar has begun to notice it.
>  And Vlad seems more mature than he was, and less intimidated by powerful
>folk, so why hasn't he relaxed a bit around Daymar yet, and perhaps started
>to even be civil when he's the one asking for favors?
>
>* For all the talk about Dzur being more complex than they seem, Telnan
>seems pretty simple and not all that interesting. Aside from being rather
>more geeky and cheerful than Vlad expects, he doesn't have a lot to say
>except "Mmmm.  Donuts".

The Dzur mindset may really be that simple.  It is possible that Vlad 
hadn't really realized that previously, however.

If Sethra is actually a Dzur, however, that mindset is definitely not hers.

-- 
Regards, Pete
pgranzeau at cox.net