On Fri, 11 Apr 2003 14:22:30 -0700 (PDT), you wrote: >Paarfi describes Pel in _tPG_ and _FHYA_ as small, beautiful, given to >changing the color of his eyes a la Aliera, and clapping in a feminine >manner. Crazy speculation: Pel is female, and is in drag for plot >reasons. Presumably those reasons evaporated with the Orb, but perhaps it >was simplest to continue crossing. Aerich in _tPotD_ points out that he >hasn't had any children and they hug. Well, later they do. The hug makes >the "female" theory a bit less likely, though maybe Dragaerans, being so >thin and not having beards, have less prominent secondary sexual >characteristics than Easterners. Speculation duo: Pel is gay, and >Paarfi's translator has made the wrong assumption about the gender of his >conquests. Or the translator was right _and_ both speculations are right. Leading to further speculation: Is homosexuality known in Dragaera? Or bisexuality? -- lazarus "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American Public." -- Theodore Roosevelt