On Mon, 2002-12-30 at 13:59, Mark A Mandel wrote: > On 30 Dec 2002, Jag wrote: > > #On Sat, 2002-12-28 at 07:02, Mark Tiller wrote: > #> And if I may be permitted a speculation, it may be > > [#1 -- see below. MAM] > #> that the Jhereg IS the remnants of the other 14 tribes, > [i.e., those of the original 31 that didn't survive > to be incorporated into the Empire and the Cycle] Ah, I misunderstood. When he said 14, I was thinking he meant the 17 of the Cycle minus the Jhereg and minus the Teckla. But I now realize that's 15 :) As I recall, the Jhereg were basically the outcasts and thieves of the main tribes. However, I would not be surprised if some of the tribes that didn't make it into the Cycle still have descendants among the Jhereg. If you're in a society that's strongly based on what tribe you're in and all but a handfull of your tribe dies out and that handfull is rejected by everyone else, it would make sense that they would start thieving and whatnot on the tribes that pushed them away just so they could keep living. But at the same time, I believe the Jhereg are also made up of members of the noble houses of the Cycle, probablly bits of every single House.