--- Scott Schultz <scott at cjhunter.com> wrote: Rion Berggquist wrote: > > Having actually "been" Demon (<g> ask Steve).... In the original Dragaera rpg? > > I'd simply poison the bastard and do it with a poison that > > requires REGULAR treatments of antidotes. This gives me Vlad > > back and now rather than having to kill him or worrying about > > him killing me, I have publicly punished him, and returned > > him and his shiny new weapon into the fold as a wonderful > > tool for the organization. Do you know of such a poison? Does the Demon? There was one in _Dune_ and one in _Neuromancer_, but I don't know whether there are any in real life. In the books, I guess it's up to Steven. And in line with Howard Brazee's comment about Vlad dying of the poison and being revivified, it seems very likely to me that Aliera or somebody--heck, even Verra, who knows what aluminum is--could remove the poison or make the antidote or find some other workaround. At which point you, I mean the Demon, would be in a certain amount of trouble. > That's an interesting suggestion. I only see two problems with it. > > The first is that at this point I don't think Vlad wants to return to > the > The Organization. He's returned to Adrilankha because it's home and > because > he can, not to pick up where he left off. That makes him an unreliable > tool, > especially if he's working under duress. He wouldn't meekly accept the > situation and come back to the fold. He'd plot and plan and eventually > take > out whoever was charged with holding his leash. > > The second is that he was originally cut loose by The Organization > because > he became a loose cannon. He shook up the status quo too many times. I > don't > think any of them would trust him to be a "tool" at this point. He's > just > too much of an unknown factor. I think you're putting it mildly. Vlad isn't just a loose cannon; he hates the Organization. He was willing to face almost certain death to mess them up. Now that people have brought up the possibility, I can imagine a reconciliation (though if it happens, I'd rather it had been a surprise-- that's what I get for reading this list), but it would take a *lot* of changes on both sides. And Vlad particularly hates being manipulated. He has been willing to defy Sethra Lavode and Verra as well as the Organization. If the Jhereg did come up with a foolproof way to threaten Vlad's life in order to control him, they'd be taking a very large risk that they had only arranged for him to take them down with him. > In fact, he and his family might be safe from reprisals just as it is > because of that. I'm in the middle of re-reading Phoenix right now. All > of > Vlad's problems with the Organization stemmed from his devotion to his > wife. > Boralinoi was ultimately responsible for Vlad's putting the hurt on the > House BECAUSE he, Boralinoi, broke the rules. First, he attacked Vlad's > family by not just having Cawti arrested, but by admitting to > specifically > wanting to put her out of the way. ... But he wanted to put her out of the way, not to get at Vlad, but because she was a Jhereg who was causing the Organization problems. > I think that if I were the Demon ( or whoever Number One is, do we ever > find > that out?) I'd try a different tack. I'd arrange a meeting. I'd tell > Vlad > that I know Boralinoi started things by breaking the rules. It doesn't > matter if the Council really sees it that way, it's mainly a pretext to > initiate negotiations and it's a justification to give to the peons in > the > organization who wonder why a squealer is being allowed to live. > > Then I'd offer him an assignment that would be suicide for anyone except > for > an expert thief/assassin who owned a Great Weapon and tell him that all > debts are paid if he succeeded. Appealing to his vanity--brilliant. Again I feel like something in the future of the series might have been spoiled. > I wouldn't tell him that he was untouchable > anyway. If he lives, the Organization saves face and maybe he ends up on > The > Throne's bad side, removing both Zerika and Norathar as potential > allies. If > he dies, he's one less complication they have to deal with. ... I like this idea, but there's some difficulty in setting up the meeting in the first place. On the other hand, everybody seems to be able to get a meeting with Vlad, by hook or by crook. Jerry Friedman __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger. http://messenger.yahoo.com/