On Sat, 27 Jul 2002, Jose Marquez wrote: > > Dennis Higbee wrote: > > > > On Fri, 26 Jul 2002, Jose Marquez wrote: > > > > Issola Spoilers: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I personally like the idea that Aliera's previous life was Drien. Drien > > is described as "a contemporary of Kieron the Conqueror" and "the first > > Shaman who was also a warrior" (or something like that; I don't have my > > copy of _Issola_ at the moment to check against), which is close to what > > Aliera said in _Jhereg_. > > That raises an interesting point. Aliera says that only those of Kieron's > blood can create Chaos (or something like that). Vlad, being of Kieron's blood > by way of his soul, is able to. Aliera, being both Kieron's sister by way of > her soul and of the e'Kieron line, is also able to. But if Aliera's previous > life was Drien, then the e'Drien clan would be of Kieron's blood and by > extension should be able to create Chaos, and Morrolan cannot. Maybe the > relationship between Drien's descendants and Kieron thins the Chaos blood too > much for it to work, though. It's not really an issue, since Morrolan is, if Vlad's narration of _Taltos_ can be believed, descended from Kieron anyway: Ta: p. 144, "I'm the eldest son of your father's youngest sister." Morrolan's mother is e'Kieron, which leads me to believe one of three things: 1) The power to control chaos descends in the male line. Females can inherit it, like Aliera, but not pass it on. I find this unlikely, since the Empire, or at least the House of the Dragon, doesn't seem to be entirely patrilineal, but it is possible. 2) Morrolan can wield raw chaos. We just haven't seen him do it. 3) Vlad misremembered the conversation and Morrolan and Aliera are not related in the way _Taltos_ says they are. I find this really unlikely. (Even if their relationship isn't confirmed by FHYA, in order for Morrolan to be both Aliera's first cousin and not descended from Kieron, they'd have to be related on her mother's side--does Verra have sisters?) So I don't think Drien's descendants not having the power to manipulate raw chaos is an issue as to whether Aliera was Drien in that life. -Dennis