--- Jerry Friedman <jerry_friedman at yahoo.com> wrote: Amy said: > > Later, when StY started bugging him about > > trading A for Kieron's sword, he finally decided > it > > was time to find out what was up with that stolen > > sword for sure. A and StY starting a fight in his > > living room was a good opportunity since he needed > M > > to help break things up before they destroyed his > flat > > anyway. > Then Jerry Friedman said: > Maybe I'm just surprised, in view of this happening > just > after _Yendi_ and his feelings about StY in the > interludes of > _Dragon_, that he would take the chance that young > Sethra > would get the sword, quite possibly killing Aliera > or Morrolan > or both in horrible fashion. Cawti definitely > prefers Aliera > to StY at this point. > You know, I had never really thought of it that way. It makes sense. I suspect that Vlad thinks that both M and A are practicly invincible, so it never even occurs to him that they would have any trouble taking the sword from her without getting hurt. As the reader, it never occurred to me that it would be a problem -- I assume that's because I am so involved in V's point of view. Jerry Friedman said: > Vlad could improve Aliera's and Morrolan's odds > greatly by > telling either of them what he learned from Daymar's > mind-probe. > Even easier would be advising Aliera to make the > trade > with StY and then fence a little with Morrolan or > Sethra Lavode, > but I can see that might not change anything--Aliera > might still > prefer to fight. > ... > I have often wondered why V just didn't spill the beans to A and have done with the whole mess. She would have had a great reason to trade with StY then and, if she preferred to fight for it, she would have been able to arrange it on her own terms. Either way, V would have been able to just forget about it. Then again, V is pretty contrary. I think he greatly enjoys having secrets about things that M and/or A really want to know. Amy said: > > This could fit easily with the idea that > Pathfinder's > > appearance is actually what put StY out. Maybe > > Pathfinder zapped her because StY was the wrong > person > > to be wielding Pathfinder. > Then Jerry Friedman said: > It would have been nice for Vlad to mention it, or > maybe Aliera-- > and then why would Morrolan have taking credit for > saving Aliera? > (In fact why does he do that anyway? She would have > been a lot > safer if he hadn't shown up.) I don't remember Morrolan taking credit. . . I will have to reread. Anyway, if he was talking to or in the vicinity of A at the time, he may have been doing it just to get an argument started. It would be good to have some clarification of what happened, but I do recall A saying something to the effect that Pathfinder found its way to her and V being confused about what in the world she meant. It seems like it was at the end of the fight we are discussing or possibly at the beginning of Jhereg or Yendi. Does anyone remember this? I'm at work again and can't check my books. Amy said: > >I'm pretty sure that ganging up on > her > > wouldn't be shameful in and of itself. Morrolan, > > Aliera, and Norather all ganged up on the > Sorceress in > > Green and killed her, but nobody seemed to think > that > > was dishonorable except for maybe V. > Then Jerry Friedman said: > Right, and I notice Aliera doesn't seem to mind > Cawti's preparing > to stab StY in the back. So I withdraw my question. > OK, here is one of the things that confuses me. Why wasn't A upset about this? For that matter, why wasn't M upset when V snuck up behind Fornia and cut his hand off at the end of the war? My impression of Dragon honor up to this point was that an honorable duel did not include distracting an opponent so that an assassin could sneak up behind him. Although A and M weren't doing this intentionally, it seems that spectators might construe it that way and it would reflect badly on A or M. So why weren't they at least a little miffed when Cawti or Vlad snuck up behind their respective opponents in order to do them in from behind? Amy __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html