On Thu, 7 Aug 2003 17:56:29 -0400 (EDT), you wrote: spoiler space snipped, spoiler in the subject should be cover enough.... >> >> I've just finished Castle Black and have some = >> questions/comments/speculation. In no particular order: >> >> What is the difference between a Viscount and a Count/Countess? = >> Shouldn't Zerika have asked Daro for permission to enter the city? > >It may be that Zerika technically ought to have asked Daro for >permission to enter Whitecrest County. But perhaps this was not >practical (if her link to the Orb had not yet been renewed, or if >Zerika didn't know her well enough for pyschic communication). >Or perhaps it *was* done, but was sufficiently uninteresting that >Paarfi omitted it. My theory is that Adrilankha is a Viscounty, or whatever, with Piro in charge, while Whitecrest is a County. So, Zerika asked Piro for permission to enter the city, and Daro for permission to enter the County. > >> Tukko: Who is he? > >Well, Tukko may not actually be a name, but just a colloquialization >of part of his title (which contains the word "Tukknaro"). > >> What is he? > >He's clearly a servant. Yet, as of LoCB, he's clearly also some sort of >advisor to Sethra. He is "bound" in some manner that he prefers not to >discuss. He does not seem to have any direct link to the gods, though >he is capable of discussing their motives intelligently. > Demon? >>How old is he? > >Well, he gets to call Sethra *freaking* Lavode "young one". That sure >made *my* eyebrows shoot up! > >> Does the Dzur in his title = >> (title?) have to do with the house or the mountain? > >I'm betting mountain. > Maybe he's the personification of the mountain, in demon form, or some such. >>What does he do = >> exactly (besides serve klava)? As a minor note, in one book he was = >> called Chaz; we find that Chaz is indeed part of his name/title. > >If Dzur Mountain is the Jenoine equivalent of NORAD HQ, maybe Tukko is >part of (all of?) the "maintenance staff". He could be a creation of >the Jenoine (he refers to them as "Makers"), and "programmed" to carry >out the wishes of the current "owner" of the mountain. I'm betting >that his title translates to something like "Servant of Dzur Mountain" >in some suitably ancient and obscure language. > >> Did Morrolan's main chapel get turned into the ballroom or library? The = >> private rooms seem to suggest it's the ballroom after all. > >Well, M has already changed his mind once, and the castle isn't complete >yet :-) > Didn't the library have multiple side rooms, as well? >> There seems to be a fatal flaw in the plot against Pel: Zerika can = >> question him under the Orb to clear his name.=20 > >If she thinks of it (instead of reacting emotionally immediately). If >Pel consents (risking every plot the Yendi has ever come up with). For >that matter, questioning someone under the Orb might make the whole affair >(pun intended) a matter of public record; something that Zerika might well >be hesitant to do. Or, maybe the plotters are idiots; stranger things have >happened. > They struck me as a bunch of silly harpies, convinced that everyone but them is a "fool", and radically underestimating their opponents. My question is, is there any way possible to speed up time so we don't have to wait for the next volume? -- lazarus "Folly it may seem," said Haldir. "Indeed, in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him." -- J.R.R. Tolkien