It could just be because I woke up at 2AM with a bad case of indigestion, but this sure feels like a new thought . . . spoilers ho. Verra is Vlads mother. I've made the case elsewhere that Vlad is a God unaware; Verra being his mother would help explain the how and why of it. It also makes him *literally* Uncle Vlad to Devera, as he's Aliera's half-brother. -- ``If you're a software engineer, your basic building material is human intellect and your primary tool is *you*.'' -- Steve McConnell, `Code Complete', pg 755