On Tue, 12 Aug 2003, Mia McDavid wrote: >I disremember how long Zerika has been on the throne when Vlad comes >on the scene; According to our esteemed collegue's timeline page on the world-spanning weave, here: http://world.std.com/~alexx/timeline.txt /Phoenix/ takes place approximately 244 years after the end of the Interregnum. > could Laszlo have in face died, been reincarnated, and grown up? This might or might not be possible; to the right, Easterners are usually short-lived, to the left, while their souls, as we know, are not usually accepted on the Paths of the Dead, this does not preclude some other mechanism from allowing them to reincarnate. Note that in at least one of the histories which tells of events that take place in the Paths of the Dead, it is pointed out that Dragaeran souls and Easterner souls are in fact of the same type, which if true, has interesting metaphysical ramifications. While this soul identity is related by Aliera (who might be expected to know), we hear of it from the writings of a particular Easterner who is known to both err and lie. Yet this identity of souls is not too far outside the bounds of believability, so we may accept it at least on a provisional basis until we see it flatly contradicted by one who truly knows better. > > I don't recall that Zerika used his *name* when talking to Vlad; >she just said that her lover's soul was incarnate, at present, in an >Easterner. > Alas, milady, in this one instance (and I would not dare to presume that it might possibly be the case in any other instance), your noble and worthy memories are somewhat at a variance with what is actually recorded in the the history related by Vladimir the Easterner, also called Taltos (and while the Easterner might not be accurate or honest in what he has recorded, we must nevertheless point out, with the greatest of brevity, that he has in fact recorded it). /Phoenix/, pg 157: "His name is Laszlo."