SPOI LERS PACE So, there I was, reading FHYA, when I come across two interesting comments, and both on the same page! First was the comment that Kathana e'Marish'chala wedded a Dragonlord of the e'Lanya line sometime between TPG and FHYA. Of course bells went off in my head--could this e'Lanya possibly be father to a certain Dragonlord-turned-Dragon Heir in the Vladiad? Steve seems to really like loose ends to be tied up, something I mildly disagree with, because it seems inconsistent with the many and varied people who live in the Empire. But then, there are only so many nobles, and it is the nobles that all the books are concerned with, so maybe the coincidences aren't so unlikely and convenient as they seem. Second of all, it is mentioned (all this in Khaavren's letter to Aerich, I think) that Tazendra was involved in an explosion at her mansion. She got out unscathed, but it creates a precedent which may have had a more pronounced effect after the orb returns from the Paths, to such end that a certain Teckla named Paresh might find an abandoned, burnt-out manor house in the Duchy of Arylle... Thirdly, I have a suspicion about Mario. I'm still reading (to refresh my memory) FHYA again, so I can't say for certain what behaviour I will see regarding this subject, but I was interested to recall Aliera's behaviour towards Mario. Was she warm, or was she in debt, or what? why did she act so nicely towards him, a Jhereg Assassin? It would hardly be honourable to develop a relationship with a JHEREG ASSASSIN! But then, we know that Dragonlords can find it within acceptable limits to lower themselves to becoming assassins--going back to that e'Lanya dragonlord mentioned above. We also know, from the same example, that dragonlords make extremely competent assassins, to boot. So is it possible that Mario is a Dragonlord in a situation like Norathar's? Unjustly expelled from the house, and forced to survive as an assassin? He certainly can be said to possess greater abilities and resources than your standard Jhereg assassin--something an accomplished dragonlord wizard might have to hand... We also know that naming conventions among dragonlords (ahem, Rollondar, Morrolan) aren't quite so strict as other houses may have, so is an Easterner name for a powerful Dragonlord all that absurd? I have *very* strong doubts that he would be so careless as to be called by his real name--especially if he *is* a dragonlord. But I have not yet re-read the descriptions of him in FHYA, so perhaps this third speculation is based on whimsy :P Jon _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail