ok time for a whole post about varenechibel iv. because this man is so interesting to me.
the first thing we learn about the varedeise emperors is that they are 1. isolationist and hostile to other nations 2. corrupt and prone to nepotism and 3. firmly aligned with the contingent of eastern lords.
and then... well, as it turns out, varenechibel was really none of those things? he tried to negotiate for peace on the steppes, and was actively negotiating a trade agreement with barizhan when he died. he's so deeply anti-corruption that he exiled his own cousin for even vaguely suggesting that he might deserve special treatment. he was invested in the idea of bridging the istandaärtha, which is directly counter to the eastern lords' interests. even when he DOES go out of his way to favor a major eastern house, it's the tethimada, who were previously snubbed by the varedeisei.
certainly, all signs indicate that he personally held some xenophobic and racist views. (although he wasn't necessarily always hostile to all those with goblin heritage, since he was seemingly friends with orthema to some extent. ok i'm aware that counts for very little the bar is under the floor on this one) but anyway. xenophobic beliefs do not isolationist policy make.
his lukewarm support of the eastern factions is imo probably a symptom of his deep dislike for partiality. which... well, his father is THE poster child for varedeise corruption. setheris is biased, but his account of varevesena giving out titles to his friends' newborn children is pretty damning; and even csevet basically politely confirms he was Nepotism Georg. from that same conversation, csevet doesn't seem to think varenechibel had any close personal friends at all.
so... is it just me, or does this paint varenechibel as essentially... defined in opposition to his father? this guy comes to the throne, looks at the mess of his father's and grandfather's reigns (and even prior...) and goes. ok we are NOT doing ANY OF THAT anymore. becomes so staunchly opposed to favoritism he eschews even having close relationships in the first place. with his lord chancellor appointment he's clearly trying his darndest to turn this into a meritocracy (chavar's eventual incompetence notwithstanding, he's given the job because he understands the chancellery) and he even tries to put aside his personal discomfort with it to reach out to barizhan more—he wants to secure valuable trade routes, sure, but it's also telling that that certainly doesn't seem to be something his father was ever thinking of doing.
Yes, yes this! I have thoughts!
So, I was thinking about the apparent conflict between Varenechibel hating Chenelo, and being friends with Orthema. And I definitely don't think the guy was a paragon of racial tolerance or anything, but I could make the case that what Maia is perceiving as hating goblins, is... actually just hating Chenelo specifically.
This is clearly not an improvement, but I am intrigued by the idea that the thing standing between Varenechibel and his legislative agenda seems to have been his own terrible personality.
What Maia actually says about Varenechibel re: Chenelo is:
Varenechibel found her ugly, boring, unappealing but his lack of interest in her would not have deepened to hatred had it not been that their wedding night, the necessary legal consumation of their marriage and the only time Varenechibel claimed his marital rights of her, resulted in her pregnancy... Pazhiro had died in childbirth, and perhaps if Chenelo had done the same, he would have forgiven her.
Which is directly related to what Dach'Osmin Lanthevin says about the situation.
We thought... that he had come to associate you not with your mother - for indeed he did not know her - but with Empress Pazhiro and her stillborn child.
Quick napkin math says that given how old Maia and Idra are the absolute youngest Varenechibel could be when he married a sixteen year old girl is nearly 39 (38.75 if you want to be technical). And that is a totally unrealistic scenario where there is no gaps between imperial marriages, no delays in either Leshan or Sheveän's pregnancies, and everyone marries the second they turn 16. So a more realistic age would be 45 - 50. A 50 year old not being attracted in any way to a sixteen year old is actually, normal. Definitely better than the other disgusting option.
Varenechibel does really seem to have been backed into that marriage and been totally miserable about it, (although that may be because he is incompetent, I'm not sure). I am willing to give him that. But no one caused him to treat Chenelo like that. Nothing prevented him from sticking Chenelo somewhere in the Alcethmeret away from his horrible court full of racists to do embroidery, and politely ignoring her except for state occasions for the rest of both their lives.
And while we're at it, if he absolutely needed a woman to handle the empress's social obligations, Sheveän and Vedero were both right there, would have done a better job than Csoru and spared him another marriage he really didn't seem to want.
But he doesn't, because he's a misogynist and he thinks taking his feelings out on the nearest vulnerable person is a substitute for having distress tolerance like a grown up. Which, to paraphrase your earlier excellent comment about Setheris, is a real type of guy who sucks.
hmmm yes some very good points here! i definitely do think that, although it seems to have manifested in a very racialized manner, his feelings toward chenelo seem to have been more personal.
(sidenote i do want to put in a token word for my reading of him as not solely a type of guy who sucks. the respect that especially esaran and orthema show him is not imo in line with someone who was a one-note asshole. especially combined with pashavar's comments that imply he was very outspoken. but the situation under discussion here is definitely one of his more inexcusable, so let's set that aside)
the proposal of housing chenelo in the alcethmeret is really interesting. i am inclined to think showing such a favor to her (never given to any of his other wives aside from pazhiro) might have been almost as controversial at court as what he actually did. it's a great little idea to think of proposing to him, since it's beneficial but not something he would ever let himself consider.
