[Dragaera] Dragaeran Publication Date of _Five Hundred YearsAfter_

[Davdi Silverrock]

On 10/26/06, Jon Lincicum wrote:
> Davdi Silverrock wrote:
> > On 10/26/06, Scott wrote:
> >
> >
> >>> Hm.  Certainly a possibility.  Although I suspect that would not
> >>> mitigate Aliera's anger at her portrayal in FHYA.
> >>>
> >
> > My inference of anger is based on this reasoning: even if Paarfi
> > received some information from Aliera, that information would be given
> > in confidence, and its disclosure would be in breach of that
> > confidence.
> >
> Ummm... I think Aliera would be smart enough to know that anything she
> told Paarfi of Roundwood would be likely to end up in a book, no matter
> what kind of confidence it was given in...

Not if she didn't know he was a historical novelist, rather than a
historian with an actual, rather than pretended, interest in accurate
reporting.

> Dragonlords tend to have a low opinion of the other Houses

Which example are you generalizing from, here?

>--a betrayal
> of trust would nearly be expected--hence, no trust would be given in the
> first place.

Perhaps.  Aliera doesn't strike me as being particularly paranoid.

>
> >> I'm not sure what you're referring to that would anger her. Per Paarfi,
> >> everyone is the soul of courtliness. Even the criminals are well-mannered
> >> and respectful of each other. What's there for her to be angry about?
> >>
> >
> > For one, disclosure of details of her love life.  She could well
> > become angry at their being published for all to see and gossip about.
> >
> Or, like Morrolan, she might not care what others say about her.

Morrolan doesn't care what others say about him?  Are you sure?

I really don't remember it ever coming up quite that way; the closest
statement I can think of is Teldra saying that Morrolan "refuses to be
put in the position of defending his actions. He considers it
undignified", which is not quite the same thing as "not caring what
others say".

And while Aliera and Morrolan might be alike in some ways, I really
get the impression that Aliera positively enjoys taking offense at
real or imagined slights.

>
> > For another, the direct disclosure that she, herself, is an accessory
> > to attempted murder, and to murder itself.
> >
> Bah. As long as she can justify that the murder was honorable to
> herself, I doubt she would care about what other people thought.
>

Dragons traditionally do not consider murder to be honorable.  This
may be hypocritical of them, given their violent tendencies, but they
at least have the conceptual fig-leaf that those they oppose in
personal duels and in wartime are able to fight back or surrender.
Those who murder the defenseless - as Tortaalik was defenseless when
the Orb shut down - are openly despised by the Dragonlords.

By showing Aliera as being intimate with a Jhereg assassin, and
colluding with that assassin in an assassination, Paarfi put Aliera in
the position of at least potentially being despised by her fellow
Dragonlords.  And I think there is reason for Aliera to indeed care
what other Dragons think of her - if not for her own sake, then for
the sake of her lineage, which is one of the very foundations of her
personal pride and self-love.