Mark A Mandel wrote: <snip> > Well, there were originally something like 33 Houses, only 16 of which, > plus the Jhereg, survived to form the Empire. For all we know, there > COULD have originally been a genetic House Jhereg. And if there was, > some of their genes might have wound up to the bouillabaisse that is the > "modern" House Jhereg. Is there any textevd for when the Cycle (as in the version existing in the Paths of the Dead) came about? Ie, did it originally have 33 different Houses, and the Cycle got shorter as the Houses died off, or did it come into being after the Houses stabilized at the current 17? If the first option, does that mean that the Phoenix could go extinct without affecting the Cycle much, it's just the Athyra Emperor gets followed by a Dragon Emperor? With the 2nd option, does that mean that the Cycle might have come about around the same time as the Orb, and if so, was the Cycle also designed to protect against the Jenoine? Karen