[Dragaera] Loraan's Motives

[Alexx Kay]

While I was writing the recent essay about the undead, I was reminded of
some nagging questions I had about Loraan's motives during _Athyra_. 
There are two puzzling details, both concerning the death of Reins.  Why
did Loraan let him live for so long, and why was he killed when and how he
was?

My first thought was that Loraan had not bothered to kill him earlier
because he was just a tool, and that Loraan would prefer to go after the
hand weilding the tool.  On the other hand, Vlad was just as much of a
tool, and L clearly wants to kill *him*.  So that didn't seem to hold much
water.

I was thinking that Reins' survival had to be deliberate, because it would
be straining coincidence to think that Loraan only discovered Reins'
involvement at the same time Vlad showed up.  But not necessarily...

The break came from examining the question of why Reins *was* killed. 
Vlad thinks that Reins was killed in order to keep Vlad around, due to his
combination of curiosity and guilt.  This seems plausible, except for one
important detail.  What reason would Loraan possibly have to *know* that
Vlad would react in that way?

Here's an outline of events which, though highly speculative, would
explain these facts:

Shortly after the events of _Taltos_, Loraan turns up undead.  He tries to
bring Imperial charges against Morollan, as a thief and murderer.  He
wants revenge, and he wants the return of his stolen property.

Revenge, at least in any direct way, proves impractical; Morrolan has too
much power, in every sense, to be attacked.  True, he committed crimes,
but Zerika likely pardons him, since his various gambles paid off in
restoring Aliera to life. Of the two stolen artifacts, one no longer
exists.  All this, Loraan must accept, albeit grudgingly.

But no one will tell him where Spellbreaker is, either, which strikes him
as gross injustice.  The secret is kept, probably, at least partially due
to divine intervention and/or Destiny, but Loraan doesn't know that, and
just feels, well, robbed.  [Alternatively, he has some inkling that the
gods are screwing with him, but also has some vague idea that Spellbreaker
could somehow be useful as a weapon *against* the gods.  At any rate, he
still really wants it back.]  He goes home and seethes, but sees no action
he can take at this time.

Fast forward to the post-_Phoenix_ period. The Jhereg concentrate lots of
energy on finding Vlad.  As part of this, they interview everyone they can
who ever had contact with him, and build up a complete psych profile and
dossier.  While it's likely that Kragar wouldn't give them very much
himself, the same can not be said for those he got *his* info from, back
in the day.  So we can assume that the Jhereg assassins can reconstruct
any relevant details of any jobs Vlad pulled -- such as the Loraan
robbery.  They start approaching people who may have a grudge on Vlad to
get their help.  Each one is individually a long shot, but they are
patient and determined.

The Jhereg approach Loraan.  In return for his cooperation, they offer him
something moderately compelling.  My guess: the chance to kill the thief,
plus the chance to piss off Morrolan safely.  Whatever they propose, it's
enough to overcome L's distaste for Jhereg, and he agrees to keep an eye
out for Vlad.  It's the Jhereg's idea to use Reins as bait. (Not sure
whether they propse it at the time of the original agreement, or just
after Loraan tells them that Vlad is in the neighborhood.)

Eventually, Vlad walks into the trap.  Loraan holds up his end at first,
by summoning Ishtvan.  Ishtvan is, like the Jhereg overall, patient and
cautious.  He's read Vlad's dossier, and knows how often Vlad has escaped
from seemingly certain doom, and how many of Vlad's enemies have died in
the process.  Loraan is *not* patient, however.  They probably haven't
shared the dossier with him, and he thinks Ishtvan is being absurdly slow.

Loraan spots Vlad outside his window at one point.  L doesn't care about
destroying Vlad's soul (indeed, he may find it distasteful, on principle),
so he decides to seize the opportunity.  He launches a sorcerous attack,
which fails.  I think the *reason* it fails is because Vlad pulls out
Spellbreaker.  (When describing the incident to Savn, Vlad says, "I have a
few tricks up my sleeve." A 201)

Loraan recognizes his missing artifact (by its magical effects, if not by
sight).  What had been, to him, petty revenge, suddenly becomes much more
important.  The fact that the Jhereg neglected to tell him that Vlad had
it pisses Loraan off quite a bit.  The very next day, he sends his guards
to kill Vlad in the tavern.

In the end, this speculation just fills in a few details, but I hope you
have found it interesting.

Alexx

"Money is prettier with blood on it."        -- averti