All the evidence suggests that Vlad's father was a bit of a sad case. His bought place in the only Dragaeran house he could get into, his ignorance of what his son was going through, his rejection of all aspects of his own culture, even unto refusing the witchcraft by which either his son or his father could have gladly saved his life. All the evidence, of course, comes from Vlad. So, what if Taltos Pere has good reason for his actions, what could witchcraft do that would be worse than death? By his avoidance of his easterner heritage it would seem to have something to do with that. I've been sort of thinking about this for a while but some of the threads I've been reading here -- about taltos/damn what is the plural/ in particular have made me speculate. It was suggested that in order to come into their full power a taltos may not eat or drink, so, anyone who doesn't want to become a taltos would want to avoid involuntary starvation, and it would make sense then to go to the Empire and run a restaurant wouldn't it? You might want to keep your kid well fed too. I note that Vlad is not only food obsessed* but invariably has some bits of dried kethna or some cheese somewhere about his person......... Sorry I meant to say Vlad is a gourmand. ===== Ven __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com