Mark A Mandel wrote: > On Sat, 23 Nov 2002, Gametech wrote: > > #Adrilankha, I suppose because the westerly winds thin out > #the overcast, so the Furnace is more apparent. Everything is > #brighter in the west of the Empire, as it is in the far east; all > #of which makes the darkness seem even darker. > # > #Now my first inclination is to take the reference to the 'Furnace' as > #it's their equivalent to the 'Sun' or our 'Sol' I think that it only > #became apparent to me because the word was capitalized as a proper > #name would be (go fig.). But... It could also be a proper name for > the #effect of sorcerous pollution or something to have to do with > the use #of sorcery. The word furnace can easily be defined as to > exhale or #exhaust (pollution in this case) which might be the exact > effect that #is caused from using sorcery. I only battle my first > inclination #because of the capitalization -- where Jhereg and jhereg > are two #distinct and completely different things 'page to eye' the > only #difference is the capitalization. That makes me ponder, at any > rate #those are my two theories about it. Is there any other evidence > #pointing towards either of these possibilities? > > In either _Jhereg_ or TPG, I believe, we read something about being > able to feel the direction of the Furnace, through the overcast, by > the warmth on one's face. > > Ah ha! I checked my files, and here's a quote from Steve in a letter > from "Rage" on June 20, 1998: > >>>> > > * Do Dragaerans call the sun "the Furnace" because it can hurt them, > like some versions of the Good Folk in old tales? = Steve sez, "No, > the sun does no harm to Dragaerans, but they just don't see it > because of the overcast." (RAGE sez, if what you, Mark, say about > the Serioli's furnaces being proverbial is true, well, that explains > it, right?" > > <<< > > Since Steve doesn't correct Rage's assumption, I believe we can take > it as confirmed. > > -- Mark A. Mandel Yeah ok this is good. Part of me Screams well Steve might not neccesarily correct someones assumption which of course is another assumption. But I like the idea that the Furnace is the proper name just as much as the other. Re-reading the context again and again doesn't help even though I think it does, the quote really does kinda nail it down. Thanks