[Caliann the Elf <calianng_graves at yahoo.com>; one demerit to James for not attributing ;-) -- MAM] #>Couple those statements with other things, like the fact that Sethra's #>geneology scan looks like an arrow, and I think you can draw your own #>conclusions. That one word, *created*, says a lot, doesn't it? #> #>This, of course, does not mean that Steve, in one of his many "torture the #>reader" moods, might not decide to come up with parents, grandparents and #>an entire family for Sethra Lavode, out of the blue, just because he is #>verbally sadistic. <grinz> However, that is the what is known so far. [James Griffin:] #What about Roila Lavode et. al., (admittedly, they perished in the Disaster, #but still . . .) #I believe they band of Lavodes is directly referred to as a family (almost a #House?) Sure the Lavodes were created. So were the Boy Scouts, but they're not undead or golems. (Yeah, yeah, never mind.) "The Xes" can refer to the group as a group, as well as referring to the members as individuals. It's a structural ambiguity. -- Mark A. Mandel http://cracksandshards.com a Steven Brust Dragaera fan website