Having not read LoCB Laszlo is either a witch, or houses a soul that is not Easterner. Perhaps there is more to the ceremony of shipping the bodies down to Deathsgate than we think... While this is *blatant* postulation that is unfounded on almost every account, perhaps having one's body destroyed by raw chaos (or maybe anything) before the soul can truly leave has an odd effect on a soul. We know that in FHYA, the Emperor is killed *before* the explosion. Yet the soul is said to be retrievable before 3 days have elapsed in one or other of the Vladiad. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that the soul is in the *body*. We know from another book, I think _Jhereg_ that a Morganti blade cannot eat the soul of one who has been killed by a normal blade--but then, this may be Vlad getting desperate. Perhaps there is, during the 3 days after bodydeath, some link (probably psychic or psionic, like Vlad used to get a thread on Mellar, using one of Mellar's hairs) between the body and the soul that can be traced or pulled upon by a sorceror, resulting in revivification. If the soul *does* depart, however, it may need to be shipped to deathsgate in order to get to the paths of the dead--or maybe not. Who knows where Death's gate is? Perhaps it is everywhere there are dead people. Regardless of that, perhaps having that thread severed by the destruction of the body (we know it prevents revivification) leads to odd things happening, with regards to reincarnation. Like, for instance, having a Dragaeran soul enter an Easterner body. In any event, all of this can be explained away by saying that the Gods reincarnate those who are still useful. If necessary, I'm certain that a Phoenix soul could be reincarnated, despite the lack of a Phoenix body. I would imagine that the saving of the cycle would be sufficient cause to the gods to break a couple rules. Jon ----Original Message Follows---- From: "bonham15" <bonham15 at cox.net> To: "Dragaera List" <dragaera at dragaera.info> Subject: Re: disturbing thought Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 22:31:01 -0600 sethra said she had to do drastic things to save aliera's soul.. i think anyone's soul that encounters raw chaos is pretty much grist for the mill. the only *known* exceptions for this are people descended from kieron, adron himself (in some form), and aliera (oh and presumably mario, but its not *known*) andy > It just occurred to me that if Dragaerans have access to experience of > their past lives, presumably they have access to their time being > forcibly evolved by the J, about as horrible an ordeal as a people > could undergo. This would I imagine lead to strong feelings among the > elite (at least) against the J. > > A side issue - I wonder if Tortaalik's soul is in the Paths or has been > reincarnated. It would be interesting to query it about certain aspects > of events leading up to the Disaster. > _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963