> Plus in I believe _Taltos_, in the course of Vlad's mocking of the
> Dragaeran's insistence that 'seventeen is the mystic number,' he mentions
> that the longest amount of time a House can hold the Orb is seventeen-cubed
> years. This works out to 4913, rather longer than the lifespan of even the
> more ancient Dragareans (Sethra notwithstanding).
I cite the example of the SiG, who as of _TPotD_ had been famous for
three Cycles, and who is still going strong in Vlad's time. I think a
Cycle is about 10k years, so she's presumably upwards of 20k. Perhaps
only sorcerers reach this age, but perhaps a few Athyra get booted this
way - and perhaps the Orb is live-prolonging as well as -protecting.
Presumably an Athyra emperor is difficult to overthrow - perhaps even
more so a Dragon emperor who's a good sorcerer - so this rule might come
into effect more often than you think.
> Oh, and if David S. Cargo ('who tried to help me with palace architecture'
> according to the Acknowledgements) isn't the Lord of Snails (maker of
> 'certain comments' regarding forts/fortresses), I will eat my copy of
> _Phoenix Guards_.
I bow in your general direction.