[Dragaera] Tiassa [nothing but spoilers]

[Louis Eastman]

On Sun, Apr 3, 2011 at 11:16 AM, Alexx Kay <alexx at panix.com> wrote:

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> > Some random number of random comments: another strong Text, if more a
> > story cycle than a novel.
>
> Some random number of comments on the comments :-)
>
> > I think the early Paarfiad is great, but I like everything in the Vladiad
> > far more than the Piroiad (and now I have a simple explanation - he
> > didn't have the tiassa for the latter volumes),
>
> Huh, that interpretation had not occurred to me.  It seems, based on a
> simple reading, that Paarfi had possession of the ST for about 350 years.
> We don't now exactly how long he took to write the five volumes we have,
> but that period encompasses at least 200 years, and probably longer


> > Yeah, so it's totally clear Sethra's not Paarfi,
>
> Unpack?  I didn't see anything in the text that made that clear.
>

He means it's unlikely Sethra could hide it when Devera is talking to
Paarfi.

>
> >the Orb location stuff
> > was another (because why not kill Kana that way),
>
> Mmmmmaybe.  There seems to have been a non-zero number of successful
> Imperial coups in the past, so there must be *some* extremely strong
> mechanism that prevents the sitting Emperor from directly killing a
> Pretender.
>

Five bucks on it's because Kana was a Dragon and revolts are how Dragons are
supposed to take the Orb.

>
> >and I guess we've argued
> > about how Vlad would trust anyone with his deepest secrets (we didn't
> > think of trinkets, probably).
>
> The trinkets were previously mentioned on p.15 of _Dragon_.
>
> > (I've been wondering for a while how Piro is still the Viscount - I would
> > think that House Tiassa would refuse to allow him to retain the title.)
>
> We don't know much about either the specifics of that title, or about
> House Tiassa politics.  It may be that the title has requirements that
> only Piro fills (e.g. "Must be a child of the Count/ess of Whitecrest").
> And/or, the House leadership doesn't want to antagonize Daro and Khaavren,
> who are two of their most prominent and powerful members.
>
>
Khaavren sees the Empress on a regular basis. He's the Captain of the
Phoenix Guards, and the leader of the STG. No chance they'll mess with him.


> > I
> > don't understand "turn my bait".
>
> Maybe Brust didn't either, and just gave us a literal translation of the
> cant idiom :-)
>
> > Does Vlad kill H'noc for betraying him (haven't we seen him keep his word
> > in some similar situation - I'm not recalling off-hand) or for treating
> > Neritha viciously?
>
> I doubt that the Neritha thing entered into it; the Vlad of this period
> was pretty vicious himself.  On the other hand, he tends to take betrayal
> very personally, and making an example out of H'noc might help discourage
> others.
>
> > So Pel is still PM.  I'm a bit surprised - in discussing _Iorich_ here I
> > said I didn't think he would have let things get so out of hand there
> (and
> > in _Orca_ and even _Teckla_/_Phoenix_
>
> Pel is skilled, but he's far from omnipotent or even omniscient.  We don't
> know much of what he's been doing, or what other crises he's been
> averting.  Well, we have a small inference from the fact that (so far as
> we know) there still hasn't been a massive economic meltdown due to the
> events of _Orca_.
>
> >- oh, no mention of the first time
> > we and I guess Vlad saw Khaavren?).
>
> There's a good chance that Vlad first saw Khaavren either during an
> Imperial arrest early in his career (not yet fully documented), or at
> Morrolan's party.
>

Khaavren is well known anyway, since he has his 'history' (which may not
have been published yet, I dunno) and he's married to one of the big
authorities in the area.

>
> > I found the "Jhereg fake Jenoine invasion to get Vlad" idea hard to
> > believe
>
> It was certainly a risky maneuver, but it didn't strike me as completely
> implausible.  Perhaps Dathaani, while researching Vlad's history to try
> and figure out an angle to get to him, found out about the Silver Tiassa,
> and managed to get a true (or at least partial) account of its history and
> properties (we know he knew enough to be aware that Mafenyi had made it).
> Further speculating, perhaps Dathaani stole it *before* coming up with his
> subsequent plan, and possession of it gave him sufficient inspiration to
> come up with the rest of the plot.
>
> > Zerika could have just said to the Jhereg Council, "You've got a rogue
> > guy playing Jenoine, clean up this mess or I'll have the five of you
> > stacked up on a star to save the executioner trouble, and the top guy
> > goes on bottom".
>
> People on this list keep over-estimating the amount of raw power Zerika
> can exert against the Jhereg (or any large political bloc).  She's been
> quite clear, ever since way back in _Phoenix_, that she is constrained by
> lots of political factors.  And at the period when this plot takes place
> (post-_Orca_), the Jhereg have a substantial threat hanging over her head,
> that would get used if she took any large-scale action against their
> House.
>
> > I quite liked the Cawti/Daro scenes.  I have to wonder if Daro will be
> > moved to learn a bit more than nothing (maybe that's unfair, but I'm with
> > Cawti here) about what's going on in the parts of the city where she
> > doesn't spend much time.  I'm a little surprised actually that she is
> > apparently so unfamiliar with such a large group of inhabitants of her
> > county (and presumably Teckla issues as well), given the very recent
> > upsets -
>
> Such ignorance is sad, but not really surprising.  The ruling classes
> rarely know much about the peasantry.  While Daro has shown herself to
> possess many admirable qualities, class-consciousness has never been one
> of them.
>
> >and also Cawti herself has been at a lot of Morrolan's parties
> > not to mention being best friends with the Heir, which would one might
> > think make her known to Whitecrest.
>
> It's true that they *might* have met, but there's no necessity that they
> did.  Cawti went to Morrolan's party at least a few times when she and
> Vlad were together -- but there's no reason to think that she's been back
> since she went revolutionary.
>
> > The stuff about the Warlock was very interesting.  He and Vlad have a
> > whole lot to talk about, I wonder why they haven't.
>
> Vlad doesn't hang out at court much.  There's no obvious reason why the
> Warlock would want to approach him.
>

I did find it interesting that Cawti knows so much about the Warlock. Maybe
he taught her?

>
> > I was confused about Vlad losing Lady Teldra - somehow I would have
> > thought that wouldn't happen.  I'm a bit surprised she didn't kill all
> > the ones she wounded - did I miss a clue showing him using plain steel?
> > (Does he get healed midfight if he's holding her?) Obviously one would
> > guess she'd be less likely to eat the souls of Issolas.
>
> Was Vlad fighting with Lady Teldra?  He knew that he was facing Sara's
> family, and he clearly wanted Sara to think better of him.  One might
> understand him being reluctant to destroy the souls of her relatives.
>
>
Probably not. When he draws his weapon in the tavern, Khaavren doesn't note
it's a GW or even Morganti. Or rather, Paarfi doesn't note it.


> > I wonder if "Issola bard" in Athyra is now a bit of a crack.
>
> Probably a bit, but not a major one.  I suspect that *most* Issola bards
> are relatively low on the (Issola) social scale.  Younger children of
> impoverished families, or something of the sort.
>
>
> Alexx
>
> You can't teach people to be lazy.  Either they have it or they don't.
>   [Seen on a Nancy Button, www.nancybuttons.com]
>
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