On Sat, 16 Aug 2003, David Silberstein wrote: > On Thu, 14 Aug 2003, Philip Hart wrote: > > >For what it's worth, I find Paresh's account highly implausible, and > >the identification with T/A even more so. That P would have solitary > >unfettered access for so long to a library, especially if that's > >Tazendra's library (surely Khaavren would have overseen the disbursal > >of the estate even if everybody else is dead), seems unlikely. > > You are assuming that Khaavren, or anyone else who knew her, would > know that she was dead. I believe you are thinking in a pre-interregnum way. Any of T's friends could have contacted her as easily as thinking of her. And that includes Sethra. Since T apparently achieved a certain degree of accomplishment during the interregnum, perhaps even a great deal, her sudden booming would be noticed more widely than by the locals (including Mica...) > Although I admit that it is odd that her absence could go for so long > without any investigation (tax collectors & other auditors, at least, > might well show up). > > But perhaps the explosion was part of an attack on the entire region, > and the Duke himself was a casualty. A minor Baroness might not have > warranted further note than "She got hit too". The person you're calling "minor" is a war hero, a leading restablisher of the Empire, a pioneering researcher, a close friend of the Captain (Brigadier?) of the Guards, a close friend of the Imperial Discreet, etc. I rather imagine she gets promoted... > >That a Lyorn would (deign to) attack him with sorcery seems further > >unlikely. > > Why? You are perhaps assuming that all Lyorns are of impeccable > character. As we see with Shaltre, this is not the case. Would Shaltre deign to duel with a Teckla? He'd order a servant to deliver a thrashing. But he wouldn't be there in the first place. > > That a Lyorn would physically show up in person to find someone > >(especially post-interregnum, when he could use the Orb to phone > >ahead, or have a servant phone ahead) I consider absolutely > >impossible. > > ... > There's things wrong with that scenario as well - why would none of > the Teckla of the Duke's lands tell the Duke about the incident? > Unless he really is so new on the scene that he has no contacts among > the locals at all. Hm. That does kind of make sense. I think you've missed the thrust of my argument - a Duke won't have time to go for a stroll, or won't bother. He'll send his seneschal, or his secretary, or have the gardener's son's cousin carry over a note. And anyway he won't appear out of the blue with an entire retinue completely ignorant of the local area. > >It's possible that Aerich doesn't make it out of the Viscountiad and > >Arylle is not a Lyorn and that Paresh and Vlad are accurate in their > >account and I'm entirely deluded, > > As already suggested, it appears all too likely that the young Lyorn > cannot possibly be Aerich, which indicates that Aerich is, during > Vlad's time, defunct. Regardless of whether the young Lyorn is a > usurper or legitimate heir, he would not have *called* himself the > Duke of Arylle unless the former Duke was no longer around to dispute > the claim. I don't think Paresh's story indicates anything, because it's as likely to be codswallop as anything else. He might be a disgruntled servant who takes his pitiful revenge on Arylle by slandering him to Jheregs. And Aerich might well have gotten a promotion (to take Shaltre's place in court, for example) and left the Dukedom to an heir, such as a disowned Piro (well, not very likely, but it'd be nice.)