[Dragaera] States and violence (was Re: OT: Ray Bradbury)

[Jerry Friedman]

--- Davdi Silverrock <davdisil at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 7/21/07, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> >
> > I don't remember anyone in /Dragon/ even imagining that the
> > Empire might have anything to say about the war.  According
> > to the "monopoly" definition, that means the Empire is not
> > a state.
> 
> Yet an alternate interpretation is that the Empire, with its monopoly
> on violence, granted a (temporary) license to Morrolan and Fornia to
> wage their little war (and they had to petition the Empire to receive
> this license), and this was so obvious to all involved that no-one
> thought to even bother mentioning it.

I suppose that's true.  However, Morrolan tells Vlad, "A formal
declaration of war isn't called for in an action of this type.
I'll just send him a message demanding the return of the sword,
or accusing him of stealing it, and that will accomplish the
same thing" (Chapter 3, p. 55 of the paperback).  I find it
hard to imagine that if Fornia and Morrolan need a war
license, they don't need a formal declaration of war.

>  I am trying to recall the state of the fields that Vlad marched
> through.  I seem to recall that they were empty, meaning after the
> harvest or before planting of crops.  This would imply that the timing
> of the war was critical so as not to damage food generation.

At first there's not a whole lot about vegetation, cultivated
or other.  In Chapter 10, after the first battle, the army
reaches the near-desert west of the mountains, with "harsh,
rocky ground".  Then in Chapter 12 there's a long march, always
west of the mountains, till they reach Baritt's Tomb, with "a
few hills here and there, and off to the southwest a flat plain
covered with rocks and low grass, then a tall hill beyond."
They're definitely not in cropland most of the time, and they
may not be ever.

In any case, there seems to be little delay between provocation
and war, so we don't know whether the time of year is
particularly suitable in any way.

> Note that Morrolan's army may very well have had the Warlord at the
> time on their side, assuming that Sethra the Younger had not already
> been removed from that position.  Again, this would certainly imply
> Imperial sanction for the war.

You could just as well argue that it would imply the Empire is on
Morrolan's side and Fornia is a rebel.  If StY is the Warlord,
though, I don't think any of that follows.  She might need to
get leave from the Empress personally, but the Empire seems to
be very individualistic (at least during a Phoenix Reign), and
I can imagine the Warlord could be allowed to fight as a private
individual.

I don't think we ever hear any mention of laws against violence
except for the prohibition of murder for hire and the Imperial
investigation when a nobleman is killed (Vlad's implausible
flashback in /Phoenix/ of being questioned under the Orb, and
the investigation into Fyres' death).  Well, you can also get
arrested for dueling without a judge and other things.  But
Savn doesn't think about going to any authority after he
gets beaten up.  Likewise twice when Vlad lists Organization
activities, he mentions loans at illegal interest but not
beating up defaulters (beginning of /Taltos/, p. 29 of of
/Dzur/).

Not only does no one mention getting permission for the
threatened Dragon-Jhereg war in /Jhereg/, but I don't think
anyone even mentions the possibility that the Empire might like
to stop it.  (I'm enjoying the image of the Demon showing up
in the Adrilankha office of the Department of Large-Scale
Armed Conflicts and Morrolan showing up in the Southmoor office
to request their war licenses.  "A hundred seventy orbs,
please.")

In fact, I don't remember anyone ever needing a license for
anything except prostitution.  And gambling and selling
psychedelics?

Despite what I said above, I assume laws regulating violence
and applying for licenses are not Cool Stuff.

Jerry Friedman


       
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