[Dragaera] Political obligations of the Emperor

[Davdi Silverrock]

On 2/8/07, Scott wrote:
> >How can one be a figurehead holding the Orb?
>
> More to the point, from a general perspective: How beholden is the Emperor
> to his House?
>
> Does the Emperor answer to her House? Does she appoint members of her own
> House to prominent governmental positions?

I'm 99.9% certain that the Countess Bellor was exactly such a
political appointee. There's no way she was made Superintendant of
Finance on her own merits.

As I re-read FHYA, the more it strikes me that Phoenix really are
decadent.  I wonder if there were any that had any redeeming features,
or if they were all feckless or evil or both.

Vernoi is perhaps the only one who could be called worthy, and we only
see him for a few paragraphs.

Loudin is mentioned here and there in the book, and is noted as being
the House representative.  We never see her in person, perhaps because
Paarfi found that she was as useless as all the others of House
Phoenix, and did not wish to emphasize this while her daughter was
Empress?


And I also wonder if perhaps Wellborn retired as Discreet because he
could no longer take watching quietly as Tortaalik acted like an
arrogant, useless, posturing buffoon who rarely took notice of his
responsibilities, and who surrounded himself with advisors who were at
best barely competent and at worst utterly useless, with the sum
result of driving the Empire into chaos...