[Dragaera] random thoughts on recent (or not) Texts

[Howard Brazee]

On Nov 7, 2011, at 8:04 PM, Jon Lincicum wrote:

> My view is that Sethra views lying the same way that she views any other battle tactic. She has the wisdom to know the danger in lying when there is a chance that the lie is likely to be discovered, and how this can end up being worse than if the truth had simply been told outright in the first place, however damaging that might be. 
> 
> As such, she avoids direct lying; not out of any moral compunction, but simply because the alternatives when a lie goes wrong are worse than if it is not told. It's likely she's been doing this for long that the habit has become very highly ingrained in her character. 
> 
> There's a passage in /Dragon/ where she talks to Vlad about the value of sneak attacks, night attacks, and other tricks in warfare that she says she will use "whenever she feels she can get away with it".
> 
> She is clearly not above lying if she feels she can get away with it.

Agreed.  It is useful to be trusted.   (In the board game of Diplomacy, being truthful seems to have only upsides).  Especially when one is working with gods and might possibly be more loyal elsewhere.