"Scott Schultz" <scott at cjhunter.com> Sent by: dragaera-bounces at dragaera.info 01/09/06 10:32 AM To "'Dragaera List'" <dragaera at dragaera.info> cc Subject RE: the honing of Vlad (was Re: How much does Vlad *really* know about Kragar?) >> Thinking primarily of Verra here, will Vlad truly remain her >> "tool", or >> will his plans come to be more important than hers? >> > >*opinion alert!* > >I think it's going a bit too far to say that Verra considers Vlad to be a >"tool". I don't think he's a "tool" to her any more than Sticks or Glowbug >would be a "tool" to Vlad. His relationship to Verra is not to far different >from his relationship to Sethra, actually, except that Sethra has claim to a >fair amount of friendship that Verra does not. You see, this is why I put "tool" in quotes... ;-) I just recently re-read /Issola/, and it's interesting to re-visit the part with Vlad/Teldra talking to Verra in her halls. "I refuse to allow you to be a useless boil on the hindquarters of the world." (or some such.) But there's also Sethra's comments at the end of the second chapter about how Vlad has always been "Happier being just used as a tool, and not given explanations, no matter how much you ask for them." That seems pretty appropriate to this discussion. >The Lords of Judgement are a puzzle. None of them appear to be omniscient >nor omnipresent, so the Dragaeran view of them may actually be more correct >than the Eastern view. Most of them don't even know what phase the cycle is >in without looking at it (though that may be an effect of the way time flows >or doesn't flow in the Halls). "More" correct perhaps. Verra has a good bit in /Taltos/ where she tries to describe the difference between the Eastern view and the Dragaeran view of the gods. The "I was never human, but if I had been, I wouldn't be know..." speech. >Verra has said that she interferes in Vlad's life in order to "make him >useful". She has certainly intervened in his favor and she's certainly been >involved in putting him into situations where his skills were up to the task >at hand. However, she's never left him without a choice. She's never said It seems (to me) that in sending him back to face the Jenoine in /Issola/ she doesn't give him much of a choice, but I'd be interested in hearing you elaborate on your point, here. >probably a "devout" follower for however you measure "devout" in Fenario, so >she might already have favored his family in some respect or other. >(Sethra's affection for Vlad might be a strike against him considering how >Verra appears to feel about Sethra.) I think Verra/Sethra's disdain for each other comes across as a bit more of a friendly rivalry. Certainly, Verra is willing to work with her (re: the last attack by the Jenoine on the Lesser Sea) when the need arises. Verra may just be bitter because Sethra snubbed her when Sethra was offered godhood. >The problem with the "tool" line of thought is that Verra herself doesn't >know what she's doing half the time. As Vlad discovers, the Gods are no >better informed on many things than the mortal denizens of the world are. >(See once again the references to the state of the cycle.) To be a "tool", >Verra would have to have a plan and I don't think any of the Lords of >Judgement have a plan. They have so far been purely reactive. The one case >of Verra implementing a plan in _Phoenix_ went awry rather quickly... I don't know if we really have enough information to go on here. Certainly, Verra is not "all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful" in the sense of the god figures of this world usually are. But lack of Omnipotence and Omnicscience doesn't mean that she's just totally making it up as she goes along. That's Vlad's specialty, after all. I guess you'd have to ask Trout. Majikjon