On Sat, 22 Feb 2003, David Silberstein wrote: > On Sat, 22 Feb 2003, David Gunderson wrote: > > >When you think about it, Morrolan almost HAS to be a better > >witch/sorcerer/etc then Vlad, just by sheer practice. That's always > >been one of the things about Drageara that intruiged me : A human > >could be fighting a dragearan who's had 300 years longer then him to > >improve his skills. When you consider that, Vlad's advancement > >through the ranks of the Jhereg becomes even more impressive :-P > > I am not so sure of this. I have always had the impression that > Dragaerans have a strongly phlegmatic attitude and intellect that > causes their skills to improve at a rate proportional to their > lifespans. > > So despite Morrolan being about 470 years older than Vlad, I don't > think he's 470 years more skillful. Note that M spent a lot of that time as an Easterner, culturally. Presumably innate talent and good teachers dominate here, though. If I spend the next 470 years playing piano I doubt I'll become more skillful than Maurizio Pollini. Also note that M. concentrated on witchcraft during that time, while Vlad has been busy cooking, carousing, fighting, then learning to fence, do sorcery, kill people, run a business.