> > PotD spoiler space: > > Don't hate John Edwards for being beautifulDon't hate John Edwards for > being beautifulDon't hate John Edwards for being beautifulDon't hate John > Edwards for being beautifulDon't hate John Edwards for beingbeautifulDon't > hate John Edwards for being beautifulDon't hate John Edwards for being > beautifulDon't hate John Edwards for being beautifulDon't hate JohnEdwards > for being beautifulDon't hate John Edwards for being beautifulDon't hate > John Edwards for being beautifulDon't hate John Edwards forbeing > beautifulDon't hate John Edwards for being beautifulDon't hate JohnEdwards > for being beautifulDon't hate John Edwards for being beautifulDon't hate > John Edwards for being beautifulDon't hate John Edwards for being > beautifulDon't hate John Edwards for being beautifulDon't hate John > Edwards for being beautiful > > > > In PotD, the Lyorn representative at Kana's conclave says, re who's to be > emperor, "we have no reason to believe the Cycle has turned". Note that > the last Emperor has died, and I presume that death in office means the > next house takes control. I think that's a poor assumption. The stated maximum for a House to hold the Orb is 4,913 years, which I believe is significantly longer than the Dragaeran lifespan (barring exceptions like Sethra and the SiG, of course). >Is this explicitly spelled out anywhere? I > can't recall. As it happens, in FHYA the Orb certainly thinks that the > Dragon Heir should be Emperor - isn't that an indication that the Cycle > has turned? Certainly I can see this information not being widely > disseminated, even though a Lyorn (Aerich) is aware of it, being present > at Adron's abortive crowning. But a turning would seem to me to be the > presumption (ok, great cycle ending, Phoenix exceptionalism, ... clouds > the issue - but "no reason"?) But as we learn from the conclave of gods > in PotD, the Cycle has not turned. Did it click forward for a second > when the Orb chose Adron then click back? How certain is the info from FHYA (I'm AFB at work at the moment)? Might it be a misinterpretation by Adron, Aerich (the only surviving witness) or Paarfi? If the Orb really *did* think Adron should be emperor, that would seem to indicate that the Cycle had turned, and then "backslid". But there's no other indications that such retrograde motion of the Cycle is even possible, so I'm reluctant to believe in it. > Also from the conclave: > Verra says that the House of the Phoenix is her watch. Doesn't she have > enough to do already? Later Barlen says that he trusts the Phoenix line, > and Verra says she trusts Kieron's line. What's Barlen's watch? Do the > Jhereg etc. each have a god looking after them? If so, are the gods > subject to the Cycle like their houses? Well, there are 17 Lords of Judgement, which would tend to support a possible mapping of LoJs to Houses. On the other hand, not *all* sets of 17 things on Dragaera map to each other (though many certainly do). Note that there are at least suggestions that there are more gods present in the Paths than just the 17 LsoJ, but that the LoJs have special status. Alexx Alexx Kay Opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily those of my employers alexx at world.std.com http://world.std.com/~alexx The difference between philosophy and religion: If you have an argument over philosophy, you get red in the face. Over theology you throw bombs. [From rec.humor.funny]