Yes, yes, I'm quasi-replying to myself. Bad, bad form, I know. Apologies all around. But, I had a Further Thought on: > Clearly one small group of humans (or one individual of > particular interest) has caused some important ripples in the Cycle > (if not > saved it altogether). One could argue that another human was at least partially responsible for the Disaster, and thus the destruction, or at least disruption, of the Cycle. - Unless Mario is not human (Don't we only have Vlad's assertions as evidence that he is?). - Unless 'humans-as-tools/weapons-of-dragaerans' doesn't count. If we accept the premise of the first paragraph, and assume that neither of those 'Unless'-es are true, then the thought comes that the Dragaerans themselves could be incapable of breaking the Cycle on their own, which could further imply some other regulatory purpose for the Cycle determined at its origin. To the left, in cloudy memory, were there other proto-houses that never made it into the cycle? On the gripping hand, even if there were, perhaps there's a reason they didn't make it. Could the Jenoine have had such a long view as to 'program' their creations in such a subtle way? Am I simply yanking my own chain? I ask forgiveness. I've not had a forum in which to express half-baked views and thoughts like this for a long time, and while it is terribly refreshing for me, it may be tedious for others. Bronze Enigma (Noam Izenberg)