[Dragaera] The Unrecorded Cracks

[Davdi Silverrock]

On 2/18/07, Michael Wojcik wrote:
> [This is rather late, but I haven't seen anyone else cite this passage,
> so...]

>
> Except that Elder Sorcery apparently does work near the falls, at least
> according to Paarfi:
>
> "Orlaan scowled, and lifted her hand, palm out.  Tazendra, for her part,
> matched this gesture by quickly raising the staff that had been hanging
> from her saddle.  Orlaan scowled and, evidently not prepared to face a
> sorcerous duel with someone who was obviously a wizard, lowered her hand."
>
> (/The Paths of the Dead/, "Battle Above Deathgate", 329; this takes
> place at the top of the falls)
>
> It wouldn't be much of a "sorcerous duel" if Elder Sorcery didn't work
> there; and while no actual sorcery took place, had Morrolan been there,
> presumably he would have come to the same conclusion as Paarfi - that ES
> would have worked.  (Though I suppose it's possible he would have
> understood the interaction between Orlaan and Tazendra as an indication
> that both had tried to use ES at that moment and failed.)

Well, that last parenthetical comment is exactly how I interpreted it.
 And furthermore, I am nearly certain that it was Paarfi's intent.
After all, this is the aggressive Tazendra being described; while she
might not be able to "duel" if her opponent declined to use Elder
Sorcery, Tazendra would be more than willing to launch a unilateral
sorcerous attack - if she could.

I can even think of a reason for Paarfi to not explicitly state that
Elder Sorcery is also difficult or impossible at Deathgate: Elder
Sorcery is illegal, and Paarfi would have to implicitly acknowledge
researching Elder Sorcery in order to say anything about it.  Thus,
one can easily see him choosing the prudent path of suggesting that
the two Elder Sorcerors declined to use sorcery, rather than betray
illegal personal knowledge of Elder Sorcery.  At least, that's one
possibility.  And it seems more likely to me than Elder Sorcery being
indeed usable at Deathgate, and Tazendra simply declining to use it.