[Dragaera] Is Kelly foolish?

[Jerry Friedman]

From: Louis Eastman almagaiz at gmail.com

> On Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 7:23 PM, Scott Schultz <scott at cjhunter.com> wrote:
> >
> > [Louis Eastman wrote:]
> > >with numbers? Did the Guard get caught off Guard? Did they have the aid of
> > >trained fighters?
> > >I think the most likely reason is that Zerika hesitated to crush them and
> > >if the sailors hadn't changed sides, the Cycle would've changed and 
Norathar
> > >would've crushed them.

That's one that hadn't occurred to me.

> > >All that aside, Zerika wasn't willing to use the Orb. If she had, battle
> > >over, game Imperium.
>
> > Given that the Orb can be used as a weapon but practically speaking is
> > rarely used as such, it raises the question "Why?".  Maybe the use of the
> > Orb in such a fashion has consequences that are harmful, undesirable, or
> > otherwise unpalatable. As you rightfully point out, Tortaalik had a
> > full-blown revolution on his hands and he didn't burn out Adron's brain
> > with the Orb.
> >
> > It might be argued that Mario iced him before he had a chance to act.

I think he had a chance, but maybe he hadn't made up his mind.

> > The problem is that it's all supposition and we don't really know the whole
> > story anyway. To hear Aliera tell things, Adron wasn't trying to grab
> > control of the Orb, he was trying to break the Cycle, which probably means
> > that he was attempting to destroy it.
...

Where's that?

> > I think, in any case, that it's incorrect to assume that the Orb gives it's
> > wielder much in the way of omniscience.
...

Indeed.  Specifically, Zerika says in LoCB that she can't find Laszlo with the 
Orb, since there are too many people to search through.  Of course she lies in 
the same breath when she says she hardly knows him, but it's possible that she 
was telling the truth about needles and haystacks, and Tortaalik had no way to 
find a connection to Adron to destroy his brain.  On the other hand, when 
someone uses the Orb to bother the Empress, the connection is established and 
can destroy their brain with no problem.

> > There's no indication that the Emperor even has the ability to sever
> > someone's link to the Orb.
...

Actually, Illista says to Udraan that she lost her connection to the Orb when 
she was exiled and hasn't had it since, though he is aware of his "citizenship" 
(which I take it means aware that he could get a link to the Orb if he weren't 
rebelling).  It seems likely that her link was severed as punishment.  (Chapter 
52, I think, of LoCB.)

So I'm not arguing that the link can't be severed.  I'm arguing that it isn't 
automatically severed when someone rebels.

> > Kana wasn't so much worried about being killed by Zerika if he
> > accepted a link, as he was concerned that his intentions would then be
> > discernable to her.
...

Where's that?  It sounds familiar.

It's not particularly compatible with my suggestion that Tortaalik couldn't find 
Adron through the Orb, but I'll have to see.

> > Tortaalik, a decadent Phoenix, may have avoided burning out Adron's brain
> > simply because he was incapable, either of the spell itself  or, more
> > likely, simply lacking the power for battering down the defenses of a
> > master sorcerer who is prepared for such an eventuality and is also armed 
>with
> > pre-Empire sorcery.

Quite possible.

> The knowledge on how to burn out someone's brain would be recorded in the
> Orb, along with all the knowledge of previous Emperors. The seventh Jhereg
> emperor used it, and Jhereg are not renowned for sorcery.

In addition to what others have said, Sethra and Aliera argue in FHYA about how 
detectably different Jhereg sorcery is from other houses'.

> It would also be
> foolish for one of the more skilled Emperors not to record how to utilize
> the Orb.

That doesn't mean every subsequent Emperor can do it.  The notes of Bach's 
Chaconne for solo violin are recorded, and I can even watch a video of someone 
playing it, but I'll never be able to play it.

However, I suspect that it's something any Emperor can do.  On the other hand, 
maybe Adron can defend himself against it, as Scott said.

> Additionally, your tool analogy is insufficient- this is a device
> that nullifies natural disasters and is on par with the most powerful Great
> Weapons and presumably exceeds the lesser ones, among its many other
> functions. I don't believe Zerika could wave her hand and destroy everyone
> opposing her in the Siege-the Orb can't tell when Vlad is selling it the
> Chain Bridge- but frankly if any of the Orb's hype is true it doesn't really
> matter how many Teckla/Easterners there are, if they directly fight the Orb
> and they're not next in line in the Cycle, they lose.

Doesn't Adron describe how he's planning to win the battle by using the Orb at 
the end of FHYA?  It's not just burning out brains, as I recall.

> I suspect using the Orb directly is effectively taking control of the Empire
> for a moment, and causes havoc politically due to the interests of the
> Houses being shoved to the curb.

Could well be.

> It seems remarkably foolish of Zerika the First to not have conceived of the
> ability to sever links to the Orb.
...

As I said, I think that ability is built in.

> Additionally, and this would probably earn me a look from Ms. Manners, but
> the rebels winning seems to have no basis in fact,
...

An odd use of "fact".

I agree that for the reasons you gave (and I snipped), it's hard to see how the 
rebels in Phoenix could have been close to winning, but Steven can make it any 
way he wants, and he might eventually tell us how it worked.

Jerry Friedman