FelixEisen at aol.com wrote: > > Believe it or not, I got the impression that Vlad was, well ... barely > tolerable as a sorcerer, passingly competent as a witch, and pretty good as a > fencer -- but he clearly wasn't anywhere near the level of skill with the > latter two as his grandfather. I also got the impression that Vlad was too, I would argue that Vlad is more than competent as a witch. Teleporting the blood of a goddess from his apartment to the Paths of the Dead is, in my opinion, an extraordinary feat; the resulting spell is one that should put him on par with his grandfather. As a fighter, Vlad's skills lie in his improvisational abilities; he understands the Dragaeran style well enough to defend against it even when overmatched, and more to the point, he fights dirty, using every conceivable advantage he can. I believe that the fight involving Noish-pa and the Phoenix Guards resulted as it did in part because of Noish-pa's skill with the blade, but also because I think that the Guards underestimated him, and probably did not or could not use sorcery. In most fights Vlad is in, he has to defend against sorcery as well as steel, and he's managed to survive so far. Jose -- Jose Marquez jhereg69 at earthlink.net