On Thu, 17 Jun 2004, Scott Schultz wrote: > > It would be > > entirely in character for Kiera to lie about how she > > acquired something in order to protect a > > resource/friend. > > While that's probably true, it still leaves the question of "why even > mention it?" if it's something incriminating enough to require a lie as a > cover-up? Cawti isn't a thief, at least professionally. It's not like she > would have stopped Kiera and said "Hey, didn't you check for Elder Sorcery > before going in?" Vlad has broken into many places he shouldn't have been > and he's never felt the need to make sure that there were no Elder Sorcerous > alarms installed. > > Despite the fact that Vlad seems to be surrounded by Elder Sorcerors these > days, we've been told the Elder Sorcery is dangerous, difficult, illegal, > and has few pracitioners because of all of the above, because there aren't > any teachers around and because there are few who have the natural > mystical/genetic potential for it. The unusual thing is not that Kiera stole > a doo-hickey from Aliera to check for it. The unusual thing is that Kiera > even feels a need to check for it. This in my view is just Kiera's way of showing how good a thief she is - a) she can pickpocket a primed neutron bomb and b) she checks for stuff nobody in their right mind would have anything to do with. > That, of course, is one of the giveaways that tips Vlad off about the Secret > later on. From a meta-story standpoint, that's all that one line is really > about. It's likely that Steven didn't give a whole lot of thought as to the > consequences of a few readers trying to interpret a single sentence as > evidence to determine whether Aliera and Kiera are friends, but here we are > anyway. *heh* Who needs a sentence? Give us a couple of words to rub together and we'll start a conflagration. > [...] > > That indicates to me that Kiera is NOT Aliera's personal friend and so does > not know the Secret. The incident in Jhereg where they acknowledge knowing > one another must just indicate what it appears to - that they are acquainted > in some fashion that we're yet unaware of. This goes against my own theory > that the scene in Jhereg indicated Aliera's knowledge of the Secret, but I > think the evidence in Orca is stronger. I think Vlad shades the truth a bit in _Jhereg_, for reasons of trust perhaps, and his depiction of Kiera's relationship with Aliera struck me as such an instance. Or it's just not canonical. Or V was just amusing himself (if say it would be absurd for A and K to be buddies). I at least don't see Aliera tossing back brewskis with a thief. Otoh Aliera's relationship with Jheregs is sufficiently complex (at least if you believe Paarfi's account of her nooner with Mario) that anything's possible.