They sit on their thrones because their thrones are barbed. Hooks and wires spring from the chair and pass into their flesh, and not one of them will relinquish his seat. If one were to do so, then the barbs would pull away his skin and he would be left naked - and they do not so much fear having others see their nakedness as they fear beholding their own selves unmasked. Even when a throne is vacated, its hooks and jags and barbs glistening with bits of the last king, the Ventrue will vie for the empty chair. "We are the finest," they say. "We can govern you. We can protect you from the Sabbat, from the Lupines. We can make things safe for all of you."
I don't know how they can protect me if they can't protect themselves from the chair.
I don't know how they can protect me if they can't protect themselves from the chair.
— Vampire: The Masquerade - Clanbook: Malkavian (Revised)
Lord Tywin Lannister: Am I the only one to see through this performance? Is it possible that so many could be so stupid for so long?
Grand Maester Pycelle: There are times when I have trouble believing it myself.
Lord Tywin Lannister: Then why do you bother?
Grand Maester Pycelle: So many flowers, my lord, each wanting to grow the tallest, bloom the brightest... and one by one, sooner or later, they all get plucked. I don't want to be the tallest or the brightest: I only want to remain in the garden, until my time comes to return to the dirt.
Grand Maester Pycelle: There are times when I have trouble believing it myself.
Lord Tywin Lannister: Then why do you bother?
Grand Maester Pycelle: So many flowers, my lord, each wanting to grow the tallest, bloom the brightest... and one by one, sooner or later, they all get plucked. I don't want to be the tallest or the brightest: I only want to remain in the garden, until my time comes to return to the dirt.
Grey Seers have unmatched power, for any who oppose them are denounced as heretics and traitors, earning a swift and terrible death. Their influence and position gives these leaders a little more security and freedom than that available to other Skaven, but treachery is ingrained in this culture. With power comes resentment, rewarding no few Grey Seers with a knife in the back.
— Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Children Of The Horned Rat - A Guide To Skaven
On the heights, all paths are paved with daggers.
— Saying in the Seanchan Empire, The Wheel of Time
