From: Mark A Mandel <mam at theworld.com> > #Consider the FACTS WE KNOW. > [deleted most of very nice analysis] It's always nice to receive a compliment from someone whom is generally considered one of the experts. Thank you. > #So what does it mean when the Orb goes white? > White is the color of sickness (Issola 71). So the Orb is warning that > there's trouble in the system that it's part of? Hmmm. Hadn't thought of this possibility; forgot my _Issola_. Entirely possible, even probable. Consider a few more facts: Princess Kareen (sorry, misplaced the name, it's been recently mentioned by Mssr. 'I Find It Best to Keep Your Books Handy') is said (by Morrolan and/or Sethra and/or Aliera) to have died during the Disaster, before Zerika IV's birth. It is possible -- not necessarily probable, but again, possible -- that she was mortally injured during the disruptions before Tortaalik was, instead of being killed during the actual 'coming-into-being' of the Lesser Sea. If she was dying and in labor with the infant Zerika, and presuming there was a Phoenix circling overhead, Zerika would have been the Phoenix Heir ... though only if she survived. I think that'd've caused a 'white' reaction from the Orb. Which would also mean that even if Sethra Lavode is telling Paarfi things, she's not telling him -everything-... Thomas Crain aka Felix Eisen aka The Wyrm Ouroboros