Heartwarming / Dragaera

• At the end of Orca, when the female security officer discovers that Vlad really has been trying to win back the cottage of a widowed medicine woman as payment for her helping the mentally damaged Savn (for which damage Vlad holds himself responsible). As an honorable defender of the law, she develops enormous respect for him, something particularly touching because of all of the Fantastic Racism in the series.
• Issola has a good moment where Vlad thinks about how he is dedicated to saving Aliera and Morrolan even though they are in his words "enormous jerks". This is particularly touching as it shows how much he's changed from the beginning of the series when he thought of all Dragaerans as scum. Being Vlad, though, he says he just wants to embarrass the Persons Of Mass Destruction.
• Also in Issola, Lady Teldra gets struck with a Morganti Dagger, which would destroy her soul. Even though he spent most of the book thinking that her politeness and niceness (along with most Issola's actions) is probably just an act to avoid rudeness, he still tries to recover her soul from the dagger to avoid her destruction.
• In Phoenix, Loiosh, who we mostly see wisecracking and running minor errands for Vlad, flies all the way back to the mainland to get the cavalry to get Vlad out of prison. It's probably his most selfless act in the whole series.
• In Yendi, Vlad's Dragaeran friends go out of their way to help finance his gang war against Laris, even if social proprieties dictate they don't come out and say that's what they're doing. All the more touching in that it's very early in his relationship with Morrolan or so far as Vlad knows with Sethra.
  • This also goes the other way: Kiera offers Vlad a massively valuable diamond he immediately recognizes as coming from Dzur Mountain, and he turns it down flat before Kiera explains it's a surreptitious gift. He desperately needs the money to defend himself and his people, Sethra can definitely do without the jewel, yet he still won't take something he thinks was stolen from her because she's his friend.
• In Lyorn, Vlad is talking to Sara, and telling her about how he's free from the Right Hand of the Jhereg, but now in trouble with the Left Hand. The first thing out of her mouth is "How can I help?"

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