[Dragaera] comment on Dzurs (and Lyorn)

[Scott Schultz]

> > There's nothing dishonorable about breaking bread with criminals.
> 
> I don't know if this is a popular opinion.  Recall that Piro and friends
are
> robbing innocent folk at sword point, laughing at their terror, and
murdering
> them if they resist.  It's curious to me that the Text doesn't remark more
on
> it.

You have to keep the medium in mind. The Paarfiad is a history of
swashbuckling, not a hard-boiled history of the seamy underbelly of the
Empire. Paarfi's stories promulgate the old conceit that banditry is an
honorable trade and, in fact, the most dishonorable trade is merchantry,
given that a bandit will steal your money honestly while a merchant will
"steal" it deceitfully. Bandits are  predators and it's perfectly reasonable
for a predator to have honor, even if he's doing something ostensibly
illegal or immoral, while prey seldom have honor. In fact, prey that exhibit
honor tend to either die or become predators themselves.

There's some philosophy to think about.