On Wed, 31 Mar 2004, Sean Whalen wrote: > > --- David Silberstein <davids at Kithrup.COM> wrote: > > Hmm. For some reason, I was certain that Loudin was Noima's child, > > yet I see that the phrasing "now the Phoenix Heir", as does Khaavren's > > apparently distant awareness of her, strongly suggests that she was > > not the Heir before. > > I think Loudin's actions aren't really consistent with being Noima's > child. If she were she could have found out how bad conditions were in > the court and if it was a good idea to leave the city much easier. > It's possible Noima's child wasn't born beneath a phoenix and was > disqualified as Heir. He might also have died at sea, in a war or in an > uprising somewhere, especially if he joined the army. Loudin can't be dumb enough not to be aware of court conditions, esp. as she was a maid of honor to the consort. Tortaalik may drive off a cliff next century - Zerika's coming _now_. I think the lack-of-phoenix-flyby hypothesis fails, as Paarfi could hardly pass up such juicy gossip. If I'm right that there is one emperor/reign, being Heir is a ceremonial position, and lineage questions are fairly pointless as the house will next reign many generations in the future. If so, I'd guess a new line would be chosen for balance, as a sop, etc. Note that K might well know the Heir but not know who was the Heir (perhaps esp. after 17**2 years) if the position doesn't amount to much.