[Dragaera] Some speculation about The Silver Tiassa -- SPOILERS

[Scott Schultz]

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While it may actually have many uses, it seems that a passive effect of the
Silver Tiassa is that it acts as a muse or source of intuitive inspiration
to its owner. Devera tells us that she has loaned it to artists of various
stripes whose art then became the subject of popular acclaim. While Devera
doesn't claim any cause and effect, I feel safe in saying that such a cause
and effect is implied. 

The alternative is that Devera is unknowingly giving the tiassa to highly
effective artists. In that scenario, the tiassa may be taking something from
them rather than giving something to them.

I find the former interpretation more interesting than the latter.

As a side note, the silver tiassa seems to also exert a sort of desire in
the people exposed to it. We know that Devera was being constantly drawn
back to it, which might partially be inferred to be Verra's influence.
However, when Cawti is reminded of it, she says (paraphrased) "I'd kind of
like to see it again". We also have Paarfi being unwilling to part with it
when Devera tells him to. Ostensibly because he understands its usefulness
and he has a book to publish. Perhaps also because he felt a desire for it.
He owned it far longer than anyone else did and he might have become
enamored of it to the point of being unable to let it go.

Assuming that the silver tiassa IS a muse and that Vlad has the right of it
- (the whole connecting the conscious and unconscious minds thing), it's
worth raising the question - What effect did the tiassa have on its other
known owners?

These other owners are Sethra Lavode, Vlad himself, Feorae, Dathaani, and
Savn.

Sethra is the most straightforward of the bunch, since we know exactly what
she does with it, even if we are left to speculate about the how of it. She
owns it for an indeterminate length of time, then gives it back to Vlad. If
it had any obvious effect on her personally, then we are given no evidence
of it. Unlike the other owners, though, she uses it actively instead of
being affected by it passively and perhaps that makes a difference. (Phil's
theories about Paarfi may be relevant when it comes to talking about active
uses of the tiassa.)

Vlad owns the tiassa during the time period when he is on the rise within
the Organization. It's been noted in the past that he rose through the ranks
quicker than almost anybody else ever has, even taking his short lifespan
into account. He lived or died several times on both his intuition and his
ability to concoct a plot during that time. How much of his success is, in
fact, due to the influence of the silver tiassa in helping him make the
kinds of connections, mental and social, that made him successful? When he
comes up with the teleport spell that pulls the vial of a god's blood across
the dimensions from one world to another, a feat never before accomplished
by a witch to his knowledge, are we seeing the influence of the silver
tiassa?

Vlad doesn't seem to have coveted the tiassa at all, despite having
possessed it for a couple of years(?). He was perfectly happy to part with
it in order to succeed at a scheme. That may or may not say something about
his strength of character. OTOH, unlike most of its other owners, he knew
the story behind it and may have just figured that it was as good a time as
any to get rid of it.

Feorae owned the tiassa for some period of a few years. As far as I can
tell, we have no idea at all what effect the Tiassa had on him. We don't
spend enough time with him to tell. Maybe we'll revisit him down the road.
He spent time with his collection once a month, which doesn't seem
unreasonable on the face of it. Again, there's too little information to say
whether he had "had it too long" and was beginning to covet it.

Dathaani  owned the tiassa for about a week, so it seems. A few days,
anyway; just long enough to put his scheme into motion. This is an
interesting conundrum. It's possible that he had his scheme worked out from
the beginning and that stealing the tiassa (or causing it to be stolen) was
just one step in the larger scheme. 

There's another possibility, though. I've seen the question raised as to how
Dathaani ever believed he could pull off his scheme. That made me think -
What if the scheme came after the theft of the tiassa? Vlad has speculated
that the tiassa itself has a purpose and goal to its movements. What if the
scheme was suggested to Dathaani by the tiassa itself and that influence
over his mind is some greater part of why he felt he could get away with his
scheme? In any case, it seems at least possible that the muse may have
inspired Dathaani to create the scheme after he acquired the tiassa, rather
than the opposite having to be the case.

Savn is no mystery, at the moment. The Epilogue tells us how it affected him
- It healed him, whether partially or fully.

Interestingly, aside from Devera, Vlad is the only person we know of to own
the tiassa twice, even if that second ownership was a brief one. Since we
don't really know how much time passed between Cawti giving it to him and
he, in turn, giving it to Savn, it might not really even count as ownership
the second time. More like he was a  courier, as Devera has become, in a
sense; moving it from one owner to the next.