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24-557: Taltos may refer to: Táltos , in Hungarian tradition a human being similar to a shaman, or alternately the horse of such a person, called the Táltos Horse Taltos (Brust novel) , a 1988 novel by Steven Brust Taltos (Rice novel) , a 1994 novel by Anne Rice Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

48-486: A pneumothorax . While the rest of the village searches for Vlad, Savn recruits the master physicker and they fight off Vlad's infection. While recuperating, Vlad confirms Savn's growing suspicion that Vlad has been manipulating him in order to get his help. Savn goes to Loraan's manor and discovers that Vlad's allegations about him are true. Savn is thrown into a cell with his master, who has already been tortured into revealing Vlad's location. Savn treats his master and kills

72-462: A finger. While entering the village of Smallcliff, he meets Savn, a Teckla boy apprenticed to the local physicker. The two strike up a brief conversation, and Savn is often confused by Vlad's behavior, as he has never seen an Easterner before. Vlad's arrival in town is concurrent with the mysterious death of Reins, a former servant of the Baron of Smallcliff. Vlad shows up again at the local inn, causing

96-400: A magical length of gold chain, to destroy its protective enchantments. Loraan launches a blast at Vlad, but the chain absorbs this spell as well. As Loraan turns his attention back to Morrolan, Vlad stabs him in the back. Morrolan and Vlad flee back to Dzur Mountain. There, Sethra and Morrolan inform Vlad that the staff they stole contains the soul of Aliera, Morrolan's cousin, who was trapped in

120-404: A new boss, whom Vlad quickly learns to hate. Vlad kills his new boss and takes over his operation. Vlad's new operation runs smoothly for a short time until one of his enforcers, Quion, steals some of his money and flees to Dzur mountain, the home of an infamous and near-legendary sorceress called Sethra Lavode. Vlad must recover the money and kill Quion or he will lose face. This is the beginning of

144-406: A specific staff from the lair of a powerful Athyra wizard, Loraan, because only an Easterner can slip through Loraan's wards. He takes the job. Vlad slips into the wizard's lair without much difficulty, only to discover that Loraan is working late. Morrolan appears and enters magical combat with Loraan and his guards. During the struggle, Vlad finds the staff and uses another of Loraan's artifacts,

168-508: A steady stream of jobs. Eventually Vlad receives his first job requiring the use of a Morganti blade, to be used on a Jhereg informant to the Empire. Vlad contemplates his job for a while before deciding to pay off the target's mistress. Despite his aversion to the Morganti weapon, Vlad performs the job and achieves still more renown. After a turf war, Vlad's boss is killed and Vlad receives

192-469: A stir. He talks to Savn and becomes interested in Reins's death. While most of the village assumes that Vlad killed Reins, Vlad begins to believe that the death did have something to do with him. After some questioning, Vlad determines that the Baron of Smallcliff is still Loraan, an Athyra wizard he killed during the events of Taltos . The time Savn spends with Vlad in public alienates him from his friends in

216-430: The "Provider" only out of obligation to her mate, Loiosh. Vlad describes his plan to tunnel into Loraan's manor and use the caves' "dark water" to kill him. Before he can put his plan in action, however, he is attacked at the inn by Loraan's men. Vlad fights them off but becomes seriously wounded before teleporting away. Using Vlad's comments about sorcery as a guide, Savn locates Vlad and treats his injuries, which include

240-592: The Empire. Vlad is regularly abused by gangs of young Orca , and learns to hate Dragaerans for the scorn they show him. Vlad spends more time with his grandfather, an actual native of the Eastern Kingdoms, who teaches Vlad about Eastern culture. Vlad learns to prefer Eastern fencing to Dragaeran swordsmanship, and Eastern witchcraft to Dragaeran sorcery. As he grows, Vlad begins defending himself from Dragaerans and learns to enjoy hurting them. After his father dies, Vlad continues to sharpen his skills and gains

264-622: The Paths of the Dead, a labyrinth that all Dragaeran souls must navigate as a test before entering the Hall of Judgment. Morrolan and Vlad are challenged to a series of duels by twelve dead Dragonlords, but after Vlad tosses a dagger at one of them, they attack en masse. Vlad and Morrolan manage to kill them all, and continue through a number of other tests. They eventually reach the Lords of Judgment, who judge

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288-581: The capital city of the Dragaeran Empire. As an Easterner , Vlad is held in scorn by the larger, stronger, longer-lived, and generally more powerful Dragaerans. His father, a restaurateur, also believes that Dragaeran culture is superior to Eastern culture. He attempts to teach Vlad to feel the same and purchases at great cost a title from the House of the Jhereg, making the family technically citizens of

312-454: The distraction to kill Ishtvan, but collapses immediately afterward. Robbed of his power, Loraan simply begins throttling Savn until Rocza slips Ishtvan's Morganti dagger into Savn's hand. Savn kills Loraan with the dreaded dagger, but the horror of the ordeal, and a subsequent head injury, snaps his mind. After reaching safety and healing completely, Vlad resolves to take responsibility for Savn's near catatonic state and seek out treatment for

336-537: The effects of the Halls. The three escape and return to Dzur Mountain. Sethra, Morrolan, and Aliera all express their debt to Vlad. In the novel, the theme of a discriminating social order is prominent, and critic Stefan Ekman addresses how that theme comes out in the portrayal of the Paths of the Dead. Athyra#The House of the Athyra Athyra is a fantasy novel by American writer Steven Brust ,

360-464: The end of the book. The first timeline begins each chapter and features Vlad performing an extremely complicated ritual of witchcraft. Vlad actually begins this ritual towards the end of the third timeline. The second timeline charts the details of Vlad's development through childhood. Much of it overlaps with parts of Jhereg and Yendi , but goes into more detail. Vlad was born in Adrilankha,

384-519: The fates of all Dragaeran souls that enter the Hall. Arguing that Aliera is the Dragon Heir, Morrolan successfully frees Aliera. Vlad and Aliera are cleared to leave the Halls, but not Morrolan. Aliera refuses to leave without Morrolan and goes to talk with the soul of Kieron the Conqueror, the founder of the Empire and her distant relative. She receives his greatsword after a hostile exchange, but

408-469: The friendship of Kiera, a Jhereg thief. Kiera introduces Vlad to a Jhereg business associate, Nielar, and Vlad joins the Organization as a simple enforcer. He is partnered with Kragar, a mild and nondescript former Dragonlord, and quickly establishes himself as a capable enforcer. At the age of seventeen, Vlad completes his first assassination job. Thereafter, Vlad begins to live the high life through

432-408: The group is no closer to escaping. Vlad conceives of a plan and begins to perform the complex ritual of the first timeline. If the ritual fails, Vlad could go insane, or become too tired to leave the Halls himself. Through the ritual, he summons a vial of fluid given to him by Kiera in his youth, which Morrolan injects into his own veins. The fluid is the blood of a god, which allows Morrolan to resist

456-455: The guard to escape and warn Vlad. He contacts Rocza and summons Vlad into Loraan's cellar, where Loraan and the Jhereg assassin Ishtvan suddenly appear. Savn realizes that Vlad is still too wounded to fight off his attackers. Remembering Vlad's lesson about thinking for himself, Savn dispels his irrational fear of his Baron and uses the caves' "dark water" to menace the undead Loraan. Vlad uses

480-626: The sixth book in his Vlad Taltos series, set in the fantasy world of Dragaera . Originally published in 1993 by Ace Books , it was reprinted in 2003 along with Orca in the omnibus The Book of Athyra . Following the trend of the Vlad Taltos books, it is named after one of the Great Houses and features that House as an important element to its plot. Vlad has traveled through Dragaera for over two years. He now wears normal clothing, has discarded most of his assassin arsenal, and has lost

504-458: The staff's jewel during Adron's Disaster. They ask Vlad to journey into the Paths of the Dead and rescue her soul from the Lords of Judgment. Vlad agrees on the vindictive condition that Morrolan accompany him, knowing that Morrolan is even less likely to escape than himself. Morrolan and Vlad journey to Deathsgate Falls, where Dragaeran corpses are sent for burial. After rappelling down, they enter

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528-501: The third timeline. Vlad decides to speak with Sethra's nominal lord, Morrolan, who agrees to bring Vlad to Dzur Mountain. There, Vlad meets Sethra Lavode, standing over the corpse of Quion. Vlad learns that Quion's theft was manipulated to orchestrate a meeting between Vlad, Sethra, and Morrolan. Angered by the manipulation, Vlad comes close to fighting both Sethra and Morrolan, but Sethra shockingly apologizes for her tactics and tempers cool. She further explains that she wants Vlad to steal

552-526: The title Taltos . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Taltos&oldid=565084914 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Taltos (Brust novel) The story follows three separate timelines that ultimately come together by

576-425: The village. Savn takes Vlad to some nearby caves at his request and begins learning about witchcraft , sorcery , and thinking for himself. Vlad tells him that Loraan is an undead necromancer who killed Reins to draw Vlad out for a Jhereg assassin. Savn also becomes acquainted with Vlad's two jhereg , who are on constant lookout for assassins. Recurring sections from the point of view of Rocza reveal that she obeys

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