On Wed, 19 Feb 2003, Dr. Elmo wrote: >Gaertk at aol.com wondered aloud to the group: > >Of course, I think that whole book was just a scheme by > >Sethra (or Verra) to put M&A in Vlad's debt. > >This is the best explanation I've heard. And yet it seems overly convoluted to me, especially since Sethra had no way of *knowing* that Vlad would be able to teleport the goddess blood and help Morrolan live. And what does that debt achieve? Aliera would have been in Vlad's debt, but sacrificing Morrolan to achieve that goal seems pointless. No, I think at least at that level, the straightforward explanations make more sense. Sethra and Morrolan needed to get Aliera-in-staff and then get her out of that staff, ASAP (perhaps Aliera would have presumably been lost if she was not extracted fast). Morrolan was willing to chance his life to help Vlad do that. Sethra helped as best she could, but was constrained by the presence of the Jenoine. Thought: Maybe Aliera was required so quickly *because* she could manipulate Amorphia, and as such, was required to help defend Dzur Mountain against the Jenoine. And perhaps Morrolan was willing to sacrifice his own life because he knew that Dzur Mountain was one of the primary defenses of the Empire.