[Dragaera] Dragaeran Publication Date of _Five Hundred YearsAfter_

[Jon Lincicum]

Davdi Silverrock wrote:
> On 10/30/06, Philip Hart wrote:
>   
>> On Mon, 30 Oct 2006, Davdi Silverrock wrote:
>>     
>>> 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.
>>>       

If a murder is considered the lesser of two evils (the greater evil 
being the continued reign of a weak and reckless Emperor) then I don't 
see a problem with a Dragonlord condoning regicide. It's all about context.


>> What about Fornia's death?
>>     
>
> Did Fornia die?  And note that what happened to him was not done by a Dragon.
>   

Fornia is reported to have died by Sethra to Vlad, so yes, he did die.

Did he stay dead? Not as certain, but in his case, I really see very 
little reason for anyone to have revivified him.

> And also note that what happened to him was because he did actually
> follow the rules of war regarding those who surrender; Vlad was the
> one who was in violation of those rules.
>
> The fact that Vlad was forgiven that violation is I think an example
> of the hypocrisy that can arise when one's principles are violated by
> a friend rather than by oneself.
>   

There's also the little matter that Fornia himself broke the rules by 
stealing Pathfinder in the first place--the Dragons may see Vlad's 
actions as simple justice.

>> And she's friends with Vlad - so what?
>>     
>
> Note that "friends" does not mean "lovers", and that she's never aided
> him in his "work".
> And see above regarding friends, principles, and hypocrisy.
>   

Well, when you're talking about the nobility, a "lover" is often not 
even as close an association as most "friends" are. Casual liasons will 
happen and so long as the principals are relatively discreet, no one's 
going to make that big a deal about it. It'll be court gossip, but 
that's all.

>> I suspect she doesn't care about the opinion of anyone unwilling to
>> express it before her, and the willing she's happy to kill.
>>     
>
> I am sure that there are limits to what she's willing to do,
> especially with regards the Dragon Council.
>   
Well, it's certainly true that Aliera's bark is worse than her bite. 
Mind you, she has got a bite, and she's not afraid to use it, but her 
apparent quick temper only rarely seems to actually drive her to 
actually kill anyone--and those we have heard about are in duels at 
Castle Black, where she *knows* they will be revivified.

Majikjon