[Dragaera] Crack in Palace [spolier]

[Scott Schultz]

>?????? Third. What is with the reoccuring?disillusionment of the characters

>about the palace through another eyes?
>
>?????? Fourth. The building, why is it so... "decaying?" I mean in Dragaera

>there use spells and such, but I don't get the Egyptians used nothing of
the 
>sort, and there left behind "buildings" till this day, the few which
escaped 
>the French tank testing.

Two things to keep in mind. The first is that the durability of a building
depends on the climate it's built to withstand, the building materials, and
the amount of upkeep it has over the centuries. There are European castles
that are still in use today that are hundreds of years old. There are others
that are in ruins thanks to neglect and war. The castle was decaying because
it was very old and there was very little effective upkeep happening any
more.

Secondly, and more to the point, the palace is decaying because the story
requires it. _Brokedown Palace_ isn't your typical Dragaera story. It's a
fairy tale. The entire story is allegorical. The palace isn't just some
building that the ruling family lives in. It's symbolic of the decline and
decay of the monarchy and the culture it represents. The story is about
birth from death. Miklos is the revolutionary who brings about a rebirth of
the palace and of the ruling class that occupies it. It can be seen as
throwing off the yoke of the Gods. The Demon Goddess is "killed", as is
Sandor, the Dragaeran trained sorceror who has been something of a power
behind the throne. The old order is replaced by a new order. What this all
means is up to the individual reader to decide. 

You can't really treat it as a straight-forward adventure yarn in the vein
of the Vlad stories. It's a different style entirely with different goals
entirely. It should also help to know that, bibliographically speaking,
_Brokedown Palace_ was the third Dragaera book published. I imagine that
Steve wrote it as a Drageaera story simply because it tickled him to do
that, and it gave him a chance to expand on some of his background (like the
story of Fenaar, which has multiple versions depending on who's narrating)
and to tie in the Demon Goddess to the East. 

Vlad's stories (the "Vlaadiad) are written as "hard-boiled" adventure
stories. Steve deliberately chose a style reminiscent of detective story
authors like Raymond Chandler. The Khaavren cycle (or "Paarfiad") is written
in the style of Dumas, the author of _The Three Musketeers_ and its sequels.
_Brokedown Palace_ is a different style yet, because it's written about the
mysterious East. From the Dragaeran point of view, the East is an exotic
place of strange foreign magics, weird cultures, and impenetrable mystery.
(The irony being that Easterners view "Faerie" in much the same light.)
_Brokedown Palace_ is written in the style of a Hungarian folk tale and it
reflects those sensibilities. 

In any case, getting back to your original question, the palace is in decay
and certain members of the Royal Family refuse to acknowledge it because
doing so means acknowledging that there's something wrong with themselves.
It's symbolic. It's not just some people who ought to move into a new home.
It's about a fundamental shift in the people themselves and in their way of
life and their relationships to each other and those they govern. 

>????? Fifth. Nosh-pa claims that fencing is a Eastern art, 
>but Viktor nor the King practice such arts.

Why does that bother you? Did you think that everyone in the East was taught
to fence or that fencing was the only martial art of any note in the East?

>????? Sixth. What was the sword that Fenrio gave Kav. agian? Kerion the 
>Conqueror's sword? Because didn't he give get to Aleria's Father 
>(the name esapeds my Auron?)

Fenarr found a morganti blade. How and where he got it is up to debate. As I
mentioned, the story of Fenarr is folklore and we readers of the various
Dragaera books have encountered three different versions of that story. That
morganti blade may or may not have been a Great Weapon. 

In any case, it was that morganti blade that Fenarr traded to Kav. Kieron's
sword was safely in its sheath in the Paths of the Dead at that time.

>???? Seventh. How can the Easterns musted enought people to fight if the
own 
>King's domian is that of a Boran in Dragaera?

Don't make the mistake of thinking that Fenario by itself is "The East".
It's just one small country of an unknown number of them. Vlad hints at this
in _Issola_ when he jokes with Teldra about possibly retiring to become a
Caliph with a harem or some such. Likewise, the events of _Lord of Castle
Black_ take place in "The East" but very little, if any, of it is set in a
place that is recognizably Fenario. The fragmentation of "The East" is one
of the things that sets it apart from the Empire. This probably also
accounts for the invasions from the East being infrequent and primarily
involved with grabbing control of the pepper fields. Invasions only happen
when there's a leader strong enough to unite the people of several different
lands under one banner or when there's a mass movement due to something like
the plagues that occurred during the Interregnum.

When Sethra the Younger talks about invading the East, she doesn't really
have much of an idea of what it is that she's contemplating other than there
being a lot of battles to revel in and a lot of personal glory for herself.