[Dragaera] Hawk

[Scott Schultz via Dragaera]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dragaera [mailto:dragaera-bounces at lists.dragaera.info] On Behalf Of
> Jonathan Carey, CHRP via Dragaera
> Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2014 10:41 AM
> To: dragaera at dragaera.info
> Subject: Re: [Dragaera] Hawk
> 4) GODSLAYER & ICEFLAME
> 
> ie, Gods vs. Empire...
>Maybe, in order to preserve
> the Empire, Vlad finds he must prevent Verra from manifesting on this
> plane...?  Anger alone at what Verra's done to his mind is likely not
going to
> be sufficient to drive him to his destiny of killing Verra, so...maybe.
> 

The Lords of Justice are not "vs" the Empire. They want to preserve it. They
talk about it as if the Empire is a mystical McGuffin every bit as much as
the Cycle is a mystical McGuffin. The Great Weapons were created by the
Serioli for the purpose of destroying their oppressors; i.e., the Lords of
Justice. 

To that end, GodSlayer isn't about simply preventing Verra, or any other
deity, from manifesting in a particular place. It's about delivering the
True Death to a deity by undoing all of the mystical power that creates a
deity.

There's more to being a god then simply a title. It's a process whereby an
entity becomes the embodiment of a concept or symbol. Perhaps by destroying
Verra in particular, the foundations of the Paths and the Halls will be
undermined. Maybe it's simply Vlad's fate to kill Verra (though it seems
from Hawk that he found a way to have a say in his "destiny") and the
Serioli didn't specifically attempt to target her.

In any case, Verra's response has been to co-opt the Great Weapons and
subvert them towards maintaining the status quo that they were intended to
dismantle. That's been a successful strategy so far, but with more and more
Great Weapons coming to light at this point in Dragaeran history perhaps
some sort of "singularity" is on the horizon that will cause the wielders of
those weapons to be tested in their loyalties to their ideals and their
partnership with their weapons.

> 
> 5) VLAD'S HEART
> 
> Vlad's heart thumping happens too often in the narrative to be merely a
> coincidental factor.  I believe they are medically relevant heart
palpitations,
> probably a symptom of a more serious underlying condition.  I feel it's
> relevant, though cold and tactless, to mention Steve's recent health
issues.
> My apologies for the rudeness, Steve.
> 

That's an interesting observation.

> 6) THE BARRIERS IN VLAD'S HEAD
> 
As for the walls in Vlad's mind, Verra claims to have put them there for his
own protection, to avoid him going mad from exposure to the effects of a
mortal visit to the afterlife. Whether she should be trusted on that claim
is an open question. It's also possible that the reference in Hawk was
another reference to something to do with this "destiny" that Vlad mentions.

> 
> 7) DEVERA IN HAWK
> 
> Why does she appear when and how she does in Hawk?

Why does Devera appear anywhere except as fan service or Steve's quirk of
putting her in all of his books? It's not the first time that she's been
noticed in passing, apparently going about her own life or visiting whatever
times and places have aroused her curiosity.

> 
> 8) GOLD/BLACK PHOENIX STONE
> 
> Why is Gold/Black Phoenix Stone so damned unheard of in the Empire?  I

It's a good question. Presumably there is not much of it around. I'd guess
that most people don't find themselves in Vlad's situation. The typical
response to requiring protection from the orb would be to buy the best
sorcerous guardianship you could afford, because cutting oneself off from
the orb would be way more trouble than it would be worth. Your typical
Dragaeran wouldn't even understand why black phoenix stone would have
anything but novelty value. It would take someone like Daymer, who
specialized in esoteric forms of psionics, or Morollan who practiced
Witchcraft, to see any value in having that kind of shield. Neither of those
guys would choose to exercise that option, IMO. They'd be more likely to
rely on their own skills as protection rather than cut themselves off from
the source of their power.

And I suppose, that's the answer. For Vlad, sorcery and witchcraft are
tools. They are not fundamental parts of his nature and his power base. He
used the talisman because he was willing to pay the price of living without
magic of any kind. Hardly anyone else would be willing to make that choice.
The people who would understand the full value of that protection would be
the same people who would suffer the most from employing it. 99% of them
would prefer to rely on their skills rather than disable their skills for
the sake of safety.