[Dragaera] They should be protecting Vlad much better (Hawk spoilers)

[Alexx Kay via Dragaera]

> Sethra is a highly accomplished strategist, and Verra at least is quite
> capable of making detailed plans for the future. So let's look at the Vlad
> situation from their point of view.

[...]

> So... you just let this extremely valuable resource wander around, mostly
> unassisted, repeatedly almost dying?  Really? REALLY?

[...]

> What am I missing?

Celti already raised some good points, but there's at least one big thing
that both of you are missing.  The Gods (including Verra) do not relate to
Time in the same way that mortals do.  They know at least some details of
what is to come, and not in just a mealy-mouthed "vague prophecy" way. 
Remember how Vlad ran into Baritt in the Halls of Judgment before B
actually had died (in Vlad's personal timeline).  And Devera clearly moves
about in time.

Now, broadly speaking, there are two sorts of cosmology allowing time
travel[*].  We don't know which one applies to Dragaera, but each has an
explanation for Verra's apparent carelessness towards Vlad.

In Fixed Time, even though you can travel in time, you can't actually
change things.  Seeing the future doesn't let you *change* the future.  In
this model, Verra doesn't coddle Vlad because... she just doesn't.  That's
not what happened.  Fixed Time only has the illusion of free will, but not
its actuality.  Vlad will survive until he has done his part, by
definition.

In Changeable Time, the timestream can be changed, at least to some
degree.  In this model, Verra doesn't coddle Vlad because she doesn't need
to.  If Vlad *did* die (and her long-term plans required him), she would
mess with the timeline until she fixed things, and we linear-time mortals
wouldn't even be aware of the "dead Vlad" timeline.  Indeed, she may
(mostly) be letting Vlad deal with these dangerous experiences without her
help because doing so is the only way to mold him into the person he needs
to be for her plans.  Perhaps there are now-obsolete timelines in which
she rescued Vlad a lot, but that left him insufficiently leveled-up for
the final boss fight.

[* There are lots of subtle variants, of course.  I refer the interested
student to the GURPS Time Travel sourcebook for more detailed analysis,
and lots of clever variations.]

Alexx

It need hardly be added that Khaavren was just of the type to appreciate
all of these qualities; that is to say, he was young and a man, and had,
moreover, a vivid imagination which allowed his thought to penetrate, if
not the mind of the lady opposite him, at least the folds and angles of
her gown.        -- Steven Brust, _The Phoenix Guards_