[Dragaera] Ten New Questions after Dzur. [Dzur Spoilers]

[Jon Lincicum]

Scott Schultz wrote:
> ****** If you didn't already see it in the subject, thar be spoilers here 
> *******
>
>
> I'll bite.
>
>   
>> Here are ten new Vlad questions I have after reading /Dzur/:
>>     
>
>   
>> 1. Will Vlad's newfound knowledge of his son cause him to
>> change his wandering ways?
>>     
>
> I suspect that will depend on how dangerous it is for him to be near his 
> son. Vlad would have to make peace with the Jhereg, which seems like an 
> unlikely occurence.
>   

True enough. To the left, how much of Vlad's life so far falls under the 
"likely" category?

>> 2. How will Cawti react if Vlad wants to stay and help raise their son?
>>     
>
> Good question. The possibility of a reconciliation is always there. Vlad 
> tried to walk a mile in Cawti's shoes, as best as he was able. Vlad's 
> departure had an effect on Cawti; her revolutionary tendencies appear to 
> have mellowed somewhat and she's now had a chance to walk a mile in his 
> shoes as well. Orca showed pretty clearly that Cawti still cares about Vlad 
> in some fashion. 

It's clear that they still have feelings for one another. At the same 
time, the whole reason for their breakup was that they had different 
ideas of how to approach the fundamental struggles in their lives. Has 
that significantly changed? (Really, that's not rhetorical, I'm actually 
asking.) ;-)

> Vlad and Cawti are technically still married; we don't 
> really have an idea how divorce works for Easterners. 

The marriage of Easterners is probably not considered important by 
Dragaerans. Do they even bother to keep registries of insignificant 
peons like Easterners? To the left, both Vlad and Cawti are nobility, so 
there are probably much more complicated legal issues than for most 
Easterners. Very likely, the local Iorich advocates are drooling over 
the possibility of representing Cawti in a messy (and prolonged) 
litigation. Especially considering Vlad's newfound wealth and status as 
holder of an  Imperial Title.

> The problem is that 
> neither of them is really sure where they stand right now or whether they 
> have a marriage still to salvage. Cawti is a proud woman and she's also 
> clearly fearful of losing a bit of the control as a parent should Vlad be 
> interested in being a father. I think that if Vlad was careful of her 
> feelings and took things slow, that she would welcome his return as a father 
> provided that she was reassured that she was not going to lose status as a 
> mother.
>
> There's room for reconciliation if Vlad and Cawti can each get past their 
> hurt pride, their broken hearts, and their individual fears that caring that 
> much about the other means losing part of themselves in the process.
>   

Good assessment.  It will be quite interesting to see this play out.

>> 4. Will Vlad's aid to The Demon lead to an eventual truce with the Right 
>> Hand of the Jhereg?
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>
> Not in and of itself. 

Well, that's where the "eventually" comes in. Is this the first step in 
a reconciliation, or just a minor reprieve in an unending vendetta? I 
suppose we don't have enough data yet to tell. Oh well.

> The Demon has always appreciated Vlad's unique talents 
> and I think that he, more than anyone, probably deplores the way that things 
> went down. The thing is, in stereotypical mafia families such as the Jhereg, 
> "face" is more important than anything. You can't let people get away with 
> what Vlad did because it could lead to others trying to duplicate his feat. 
> For Vlad to be able to return and live peacefully, there would have to be 
> some major, public, retribution that stopped just short of perma-death and 
> appeared to settle the matter. I can't imagine what that thing might be.
>   

I would imagine that the uniqueness of Vlad could play into this. In 
much the same way the authorities shrug and say "Mario did it" when they 
meet an assassination that they cannot solve, the Jhereg may learn just 
to shrug and say "Vlad did it." whenever someone rips them off in a way 
that they cannot do anything about. If Vlad becomes a legendary anomaly 
like Mario, then the Jhereg may be able to maintain their ruthless 
reputation, and still let him live. 

What is necessary for this to happen? Well, I suppose Vlad would need to 
enter the minds of the local populace of Dragaera as a living legend. Is 
this likely? Well, consider the fact that he does carry a Great Weapon. 
This probably counts for something.

>> 6. What was Verra doing with Vlad's blood?
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>
> Too little information. Some have specualted that the blood in the vial was 
> Vlad's own blood, not Verra's. My only question is why do that and why lie 
> about it?
>   
If the truth would cause him to reconsider his motivations? That's all I 
got on that one.

>> 7. Will Morrolan ever talk to Vlad again?
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>
> I'm frankly puzzled by the reactions of Aliera and Morrolan regarding the 
> death of Teldra. Vlad was not responsible for her death, and Morollan, at 
> least, ought to be conversant with the theories behind the birth of Great 
> Weapons. It seems that they really did consider Teldra a friend rather than 
> just a trusted servant. In any case, her death was her own doing. Given that 
> it was a Morganti death, why would they be upset that Vlad managed to 
> preserve some part of her nature instead of letting her be destroyed 
> utterly?
>   

I don't think it's so much anger at Vlad, as it is the constant reminder 
of what happened to Teldra just from Vlad (and Godslayer) being around.

> Once Morollan gets over his grief, he'll probably be very curious about 
> Godslayer. Perhaps he and "Lady Teldra" will have something to say to each 
> other. If Teldra acted as his High Priestess, then they may have been lovers 
> of one sort or another, even if Vlad never stopped to consider that such a 
> thing was within the realm of possibility.
>   
Heh. Interesting idea. I really don't see it, but interesting, nonetheless.

>> 8. Does Sethra have plans for Vlad? And, if so, might these conflict with 
>> the plans laid by Verra?
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>
> So far, Sethra has never "used" Vlad. She's asked him for assistance and 
> sought his advice and given aid whenever he's requested it. 

Well, the theft of the staff from Loraan and the trip to the Paths of 
the Dead had more than a little "using him" tone to it, IMO. And the 
tone she takes with him at the beginning of /Issola/ seems like a bit 
more than a "request".

>> 9. What role will Aliera and Pathfinder have to play in Vlad's future with 
>> Lady Teldra (aka Godslayer)?
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> Too little information. The Serioli was the one who said that Pathfinder, 
> though designed to work in conjunction with Godslayer ("You find 'em, I'll 
> deal with 'em") turned out to be something more than what it was intended to 
> be. One of the bigger questions to ask is "If the Great Weapons have an 
> active intelligence, does that mean that they are capable of having their 
> own agenda, completely seperate from that of the Gods or the Serioli?"
>   

Good point. After all, we only just learned about the "test of wills". 
This apparently applies to all Great Weapons. How do we know if Aliera 
won hers? Or Morrolan? Or even Sethra? Perhaps they are all just tools 
of the weapons they carry.

>> 10. What will Vlad order at his next trip to Valabar's? Will he walk away 
>> with adequate satiety? Inquiring minds want to know.
>>     
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> Whatever it is, it's bound to involve a lot of wine and a lot of garlic. ;-

You simply can't have too much garlic. ;-)

Majikjon