"Davdi Silverrock" <davdisil at gmail.com> Sent by: dragaera-bounces at dragaera.info 06/22/06 01:02 PM To "Dragaera List" <dragaera at dragaera.info> cc Subject Re: Adron and the Dragon Council >On 6/22/06, Jon_Lincicum wrote: >> >> It's not like her mother was a Dzur, or a Tiassa, or (god forbid) a >> Teckla. > >Yet I am of exactly the opposite opinion precisely because of the >pragmatic way that Dragaerans view gods. Dragaerans think that the >gods are those who have learned certain skills. Thus, they are worthy >of respect, because they have power. But Dragaerans don't have a >superstitious acceptance that everything that the gods are and do is >automatically right and correct and automatically "good". > >The Dragon Council, being concerned about the purity of the Dragon >lineages, might well have reason to doubt Verra's contributions to >Aliera's genes, at least, as I am arguing, provisionally. An excellent point. However, my case, really, is that Aliera's existence is likely to be viewed as devine intervention, rather than as an "unfortunate who was created due to an excess of passion or an inadequacy of protection" (to paraphrase Paarfi regarding crossbreeds). Even given the Dragaeran view of the gods, the Council is likely to view this in a different light than someone like, say, Grita, or Mellar. Also, given Verra's abilities, it's possible that Aliera's genes are, in fact, 100% Dragon (or near enough that even the best Athyra sorcerers cannot distinguish the difference). >> 3. Tortaalik felt threatened by him. (The emperor, even one as inept as >> Tortaalik, does have considerable pull with the leaders of the other >> Houses) > >Does he? Remember, Tortaalik couldn't even get all of the House >representatives together. And Tortaalik didn't even pay attention to >politics, allowing Jurabin to pretty much run things. Remember the >headache? The question is, rather, "Did he?", as in, did Tortaalik have this influence at the time (presumably some hundreds of years prior to the events in /FHYA/ when Adron was removed as Dragon heir). Even as stubborn and contrary as Dragonlords are, I suspect having the Emperor on your side is unlikely to be counted against you. Keep in mind that Tortaalik (as advised by Wellborn) was considered a good Emperor until the last 50 (or even fewer) years of his reign. >I suspect that each House has full autonomy in choosing its own Heir, >and would not welcome meddling by outsiders in their internal affairs. > In fact, if Tortaalik *had* expressed an objection to Adron, the >Dragon Council might have been inclined to view that as being an >incentive to choose (or keep) Adron, so as not to be seen to give in >to external pressure. Perhaps. But the Dragons didn't appear to loose faith in Tortaalik until the very end of his reign (see the discussion between Dragonlords and the Dzurlord in "The Silver Shadow" in /FHYA/ (ch 19, pgs 286-289, paperback). >> 4. The Dragon Council was scared by Adron's experimentations with Elder >> Sorcery. (It was outlawed for a reason, after all.) > >Perhaps. Yet those experiments came after he was chosen as Heir the >second time, or so I recall. Well, it's a bit unclear. Yet certainly Tortaalik (or rather, Jurabin) had that information when he accused Adron on his first visit to the Palace in /FHYA/. Jurabin never got anything first hand, so rumors about Adron's "dabbling" had likely been going around for many years before this time. > Interesting idea. However, I can't believe that there was really any other > plan than to have Norathar's parents murdered, under cover of a battle > with Sethra. Whatever "discrediting" was done was simply to rouse the > e'Lanyas to get angry enough to attack Dzur Mountain. >Yet how could the conspirators have been certain that K'laiyer and >Miera would declare war, rather than a personal duel with Sethra >Lavode, or for that matter, keeping their cool and demanding a full >investigation into the allegations? Because they are Dragonlords. >The Dragaerans have a truth verification tool. If K'laiyer and Miera >testify under the Orb that Norathar is the natural offspring of the >both of them, that might then lead to a third, genuinely impartial >sorcerer performs a validating genescan, and then Sethra Jr & the SiG >have to suddenly get out of town fast. Again, Dragonlords. >I suspect that the SiG may have used her sneaky Yendi manipulation >skills to goad and insult K'laiyer into intemperate action, perhaps by >intercepting messengers and rewriting their messages. Possible, but I doubt it was needed. Remember how Norathar reacted when she found out Sethra was the one who made the accusation? A Dragon to the core. >> Perhaps. But if this was even an issue, why couldn't they have just found >> another Dragonlord without a "bastard" child at all? Say, Rollondar >> e'Drien? Or Barrit? > >Shrug. Who can say? Politics. Go figure. Well, that's an answer that can apply to almost any of the points in this entire line of speculation... >"Well, to begin with, then, the world was made when the gods created a >ball of amorphia to hang-" That brings up an interesting point. This phrase is kind of the Dragaeran version of "In the Beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth..." (I'm sure the similarity is deliberate.) But what text is this phrase actually from? Do the Shamen of Dragaera have a holy book? (/The Book of the Seven Wizards/, perhaps?) or is this just an example of Vlad being flippant? Majikjon