On Tue, 2003-01-14 at 14:54, Alexx S Kay wrote: > > > > 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 > > > > > >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. The spell Adron was casting when his Disaster happened was a spell to make the Orb think the Cycle had turned. Now, its possible that the Disaster happened because he was using this spell while the Cycle was changing, but at the same time, the Disaster itself could be looked upon as keeping the Cycle from changing.[1] > > > 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. Are there only 17? I didn't count, but I know there weren't many mentioned in PotD, but I believe that in _Taltos_, it was indicated that there were a lot more than 17. It has also been said that through the years various people have become Gods and that Sethra was even offered Godhood. This would imply that in order for there to be 17, that some Gods had to die off in order for others to step up. I don't think that happened. Instead I think there's just a large number of them, and Paarfi only chose to include 17 of them because 17 is the mystical number. [1] Remember, there's this weird causality between the Cycle turning and events happening to indicate the turning. I believe that causality flows in both directions for the Cycle turning and events in the empire reflecting it. Jag