I think a lot of people are forgetting that however powerful Vlad has become, he's still *Mortal*. And as he is still Mortal, he's still aging at a regular pace for a human. (Whether or not that changes with possession of a great Weapon Steve has not established.) Sure, he's probobly one of the most powerful beings in Dagaera at the moment, but his window of opportunity is going to be pretty brief. (30 years, tops.) Additionally, at the end of Issola our faithful hero goes directly to Valabars. That's a pretty good slap in the face for the house of Jhereg. Sure, they'll throw wave after wave of assassins at him, but after he kills about fifty of them, they're going to get tired of that and fork out the 50 million imperials it will cost to bring Mr. Greymist out of retirement. (Man oh man I cannot wait for THAT book. Sounds like the Last Contract to me...) Plus Verra seems to see Vlad directly as a threat... Sethra the younger still loathes him, there's still unresolved issues between Vlad and Caawti... there's the ever present possibility that Dragaera may invade the East (Again) and Vlad is rather decidedly against that... Heck... Steve isn't even linear.... who says his next book occurs in a time period where Vlad even has Godslayer/Lady Teldra? Have faith in Mssr. Brust. Has the man let you down yet? Scott