[Dragaera] Striving towards Paarfiction...

[Davdi Silverrock]

On Jan 14, 2008 3:48 PM, Elizabeth Dalton wrote:

> You know, it only just now occurred to me to wonder HOW Paarfi's parents
> escaped the Disaster....
>

Oh, well, that would nearly be a book in and of itself.

However, I imagine that it would begin with a pleasant coach ride to
the city, followed by more than a few days and nights of dining and
sightseeing, perhaps with occasional gasps of pity when they make a
wrong turn and find themselves in the poorer areas of the city, taking
in more than a few theatrical events, and maybe a bit of gambling in
both authorized casinos and more illicit, and therefore more exciting,
Jhereg establishments.  This pleasant time would then be interrupted
by the first riot incited by Grita, which would have the hapless
couple tossed hither and yon by the crowds blocking the streets,
narrowly escaping injury or death more than once from both the civil
guardsmen and the howling mob.

One member of the couple would then turn to the other and say, "My
dear, in my youth, I was with a Vallista who was working on an
interesting project which involved taking manure from various animals,
primarily kethna and horse, and pumping a slurry of this manure into a
different location for processing and exploitation.  The pump, as it
so happened, was not sorcerous, but was rather driven by the strong
winds in that particular locale.  As it so happened, we were standing
near the vanes of the windmill that drove this pump, complacently
observing the smooth and efficient operation of the mechanics of this
system when a series of accidents by some of the workers resulted in a
certain amount of the product being pumped, instead of flowing in its
proper place, being thrown onto said vanes, with results that you may
well imagine.  I was strongly reminded of that mishap when we were
struck by that flung offal, and I believe that a similar situation has
occurred now in the capital of our Empire, on a much larger and more
dangerous scale."

And the other member would reply "My dear, you are full of wisdom.
Let us quit this area immediately."

And so on and so forth, with further narrow escapes from the various
dangers in and around the city, but ultimately resulting in being at a
sufficiently safe distance when Adron performs a physically intimate
action with the notional canine.