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

[Jerry Friedman via Dragaera]

Why should Sethra et al. protect Vlad when the Right Hand is going to do it? :-)

I'll add to what Patrick said that Vlad might resent being coddled so much that he gets hurt trying to get out of it.

There are other reasons, all speculative, for Sethra et al. not to hide him away in Dzur Mountain.  They, or at least Sethra, might actually have moral objections to locking people up--for people they respect, anyway.  Maybe good comparisons are the scene in /The Paths of the Dead/ where Khaavren and Daro let Piro go on his dangerous adventure (Ch. 10) and the one in /The Lord of Castle Black/ where Daro convinces Khaavren to let Röanna go with him (Ch. 36).


They might believe that the best training for Vlad is to have to take care of himself in danger, not to get lessons from Aliera or the Warlock or whoever.  (This might be different for Telnan.)


They might believe that if Vlad does get killed, he wasn't the person they needed.  And I don't think it's certain at all that whoever gets Godslayer would use it against Sethra et al.


They might not want to interfere with fate, especially considering that Vlad got Godslayer and helped Aliera get Pathfinder by taking very big risks.  (It's unclear who might have had any idea that he'd get Godslayer as he did.)  Maybe letting him be on his own will lead to other helpful surprises.


They might have better reason than that--reports from Devera about the future, for instance--to know what their best strategy is.

Finally, of course, locking Vlad up for years makes it hard to get Cool Stuff into the stories.


Jerry Friedman



On Wednesday, October 29, 2014 2:01 AM, Patrick Burroughs (Celti) via Dragaera <dragaera at lists.dragaera.info> wrote:
 

>
>
>On Mon, Oct 27, 2014 at 10:40 PM, Rast via Dragaera
><dragaera at lists.dragaera.info> wrote:
>> [snip]
>> How do you NOT scoop him up and take him to Dzur Mountain for safekeeping?  Put him in school with Telnan. Have him awaken Godslayer and learn to use all its powers.  Train him to be a decent sorcerer.  Have Aliera teach him Elder Sorcery.  Have Morrolan stop by in case there's still anything he can teach Vlad about witchcraft.  Meanwhile, you work through your friend the Empress to persuade/bribe the Jhereg Council to lift the death sentence on Vlad, as a special one time favor.
>>
>> What am I missing?
>
>For one, the fact that I doubt Vlad would sit still for being coddled
>like a schoolchild. It's not in his nature. He doesn't want to sit
>around and learn Elder Sorcery, and especially not from as
>condescending a teacher as Aliera. He might spend a few weekends
>exchanging witchy tips with Morrolan, but I doubt he'd apply himself
>to a rigorous regimen of it. I suspect he might be willing to spend a
>few weeks getting to know Lady Teldra, especially now that... well,
>spoilers! But even there, he'd be supremely bored after a few weeks.
>
>Meanwhile, our friend the Empress is entirely bound by her position
>and cannot, MUST not show favour or weakness by bargaining with the
>Jhereg Council for one silly Easterner's life, even one as incredibly
>important as Vlad is. In the event of Vlad's death, Godslayer can
>always be retrieved by Sethra, Morrolan, or Aliera — probably Aliera,
>given Pathfinder — and it will be easy to do so, because Godslayer
>will not instantly bond with whoever slays Vlad... and perhaps, just
>perhaps, his soul will still be intact in Teldra's keeping so they can
>resurrect him.
>
>~Celti
>
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