[Dragaera] Rynend and Dathaani (spoilers for Tiassa, of course)

[Jerry Friedman]

> From: Maximilian Wilson <wilson.max at gmail.com>

> To: Jerry Friedman <jerry_friedman at yahoo.com>
> On Sat, Apr 23, 2011 at 9:08 AM, Jerry Friedman
> <jerry_friedman at yahoo.com>  wrote:
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> > How can Rynend and Dathaani  hope to get away with this?  If Dathaani's plan
> > succeeds, some  representative of the Empire will meet Vlad at the same time 
>as
> > the  Jhereg muscle, who will kill him Morganti.  (Vlad might certainly get to  
>the
> > meeting at the appointed time instead of waiting around to be  shined
> > beforehand.)  A Jhereg witness will be there too.  The Empire  will find out
> > there was no Jenoine threat and no reason to believe the  silver tiassa 
would
> > have protected them.  And the Jhereg don't think  anyone will put two, 
three,
> > five, and seven together?  Or Dathaani  thinks that with the Empire very 
>angry,
> > Rynend can protect him?
> 
> I  don't think the Jhereg were actually expecting a representative of
> the Empire  to appear instantly--

I can't imagine why not.  It's a crisis.

As Dathaani sees it, what should the Empress do?  She should waste no time, but 
send some representative who Vlad will trust.  Morrolan and Aliera are the 
obvious choices.  If they're too in disgrace, as Louis Eastman speculated, then 
she would send some other Good Guy.  The conversation she wants is, "Vlad, the 
Jenoine are about to break through and we think your silver tiassa might stop 
them."  "Since it's you who's telling me, okay, here it is."

Someone Vlad will trust might very well realize that since his location is 
known, including to the Jhereg witness, he might need a little protection or 
help getting away, which that person could arrange quickly and easily.  Or Vlad 
might realize it when the person shows up.
 
> that was all Cawti and Norathar's
> idea. Presumably they  would have showed up and killed Vlad, and then
> found some way to give the  silver tiassa to the Empress (planted on
> Vlad's dead body?). When no Jenoine  show up, there's nothing for the
> Empire to be upset about except the murder  of a fugitive Imperial
> Count, which isn't as big of a deal as you might  think, especially
> without witnesses.

The Empire always investigates the killing of someone with an Imperial Title.  
Maybe not always very carefully, but we know and the Jhereg know Vlad is 
amazingly well-connected and has saved the Empire twice.  (True, one time he was 
the one that started the trouble, but no one else knows that.)

Also, Sethra or Kosadr or whoever's supposed to use the silver tiassa may well 
recognize that it doesn't do anything about the Jenoine.  If Vlad is killed 
because the Empress thought his silver tiassa had a use that it didn't have, 
that might be a logical place to start the investigation.

For some reason, when the Jhereg plot to kill Vlad, they don't worry about 
Morrolan, Aliera, et al. (as far as I can remember).  I'd think Vlad's friends 
should be at the top of an assassin's list of worries.

Jerry Friedman