A Choice of Weapons

In which Daav yos’Phelium’s suitability to be Delm is tested.

Daav is having serious doubts about his fitness to be delm. I think, on the one hand, he’s not being fair to himself – he notices all the occasions when he slips, but not the occasions which also occur on which he does well (of which, there are instances where he specifically catches himself slipping and changes to a better course). And on the other hand, I think he’s holding himself up to an impossible standard; as he eventually realises, no Delm ever is always perfect.

I like Kesa del’Fordan. She is clearly a person of good melant’i, to the point that she outshines her brother for all that he’s twice her age.

I also like Daav’s description of Korval’s tendency to tallness: “the pickpocket who wishes to rob Korval must bring his own stepladder.”

10 thoughts on “A Choice of Weapons

  1. Jelala Alone

    Where did Korval’s tallness come from? I have occasionally wondered, since this trait is mentioned in several books. We know Cantra was tall and lithe, like a dancer, but Jela was short yet broad and mighty, if memory serves.
    Maybe Tree’s seed pods are tailored to genetically induce height.

    And it’s funny when Syl Vor tells Kezzi that his clan is tall, and Beck the cook chuckles, noting that they aren’t at’all tall compared to Surebleak Terrans.

  2. Ed8r

    I would have liked to see more of Kesa. I wonder if the alliance between Etgora and Korval withstood Korval being thrown off planet…or do we know the answer to that and I just don’t remember?

  3. Paul A. Post author

    If we do, it’s not in my notes; the latest mention of Etgora I have is that Delm Etgora is mentioned as present when Anthora is called in front of the Council of Clans in I Dare, but doesn’t say or do anything that indicates whose side he (or she) is on.

  4. Skip

    Paul, a request. Is it possible, and easy enough, to make your comment box longer, to accommodate more comments? They get run over by new comments within a day or two lately and then they’re out of sight…

  5. Skip

    I too wonder about the other clans. Etgora, Silari (is he taking guff for supporting Korval?), Rinork, Hedrede, Ixin, etc.

  6. Skip

    Thank you! That was fast. Now hopefully I can miss a day or two and still see day-old comments.

  7. Othin

    Thank you for improving the Comments sidebar. I had the same problem. 🙂

    I too wonder about all those other Clans, still on Liad. Justus, Guayar, Mitzel, and all the others. It’ll be nice if Lady yo’Lanna drops by with gossip.

  8. Ed8r

    Sorry for adding so many comments. Thank you Paul for making the list longer. I love this site and I enjoy interacting with everyone who still checks in, but I’m doing my own re-read for the first time, and finding much more to comment on than my first…very rushed…time through.

  9. Ed8r

    I think Daav succeeded in proving exactly the opposite of what he’d hoped he had proved. He was seething with anger, yes; he humiliated his opponent, yes; but he found a way to satisfy his indignation by drawing blood in an innocuous, rather than deadly, way. He proved he could think beyond the anger itself and look for appropriate Balance for the offense.

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