At 13:06 12/28/2002 -0500, Jose Marquez wrote: >Mia McDavid wrote: > > > > I think a useful corollary question is: When was the Wheel created, by > > whom, and under what circumstances? The whole Dragaeran structure is > > based on the Wheel, which is not just somebody's pretty idea, but an > > independent magical object. It solidified the 17-tribe structure; the > > Jhereg *has to* exist going forward because it has a place on the Wheel. > >The Wheel could also be a kind of mystical object that allows for the >genocidal tendencies of huma...er, Dragaerans. If the Dragons ever >succeed in wiping out the Jhereg, perhaps another tribe will spring up >to take its place, or perhaps the Jhereg symbol will just pop off the >Wheel as its mystical energies adapt. And take the Phoenix as well... The situation of the Phoenix puzzles me, and Chapter Eighteen of _Th e Paths of the Dead_ don't help me a single bit. Parthenogenesis? -- Regards, Pete pgranzeau at cox.net