On Wed, 08 Jan 2003 17:48:06 -0700, you wrote: >>There are plenty of sharp Easterners around in Dragaera (Khaavren's >>librarian, the Marxist in Teckla/Phoenix) but relatively speaking >>I don't recall many Dragaerans acting intelligently - Khaavren, >>perhaps Pel, certainly Sethra in Orca. > >Surly the Dragon, all of the Yendi we've met, to say nothing of Mario, whom >even Vlad is in absolute awe of. > I think Vlad is more in awe of his reputation, though. >From PotD, it seems that the secrets of constructing the Orb have been long >since lost and that the Orb is, necessarily, a one-of-a-kind device that can >not be duplicated. If Morrolan and Aliera do, indeed, have the necessary >knowledge to construct another Orb, it's knowledge that's only come to light >since the Interregnum. I was under the impression that the major obstacle to a new Orb was getting the requisite material together. I'm AFB, but isn't it something like trellistone or something? -- lazarus "Therefore, my Harry, Be it thy course to busy giddy minds with foreign quarrels; that action, hence borne out, may waste the memory of the former days." -- King Henry IV, Part ii Act 4, Scene 5