On Sat, 11 Sep 2004, K Kuhn wrote: > 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? I'm of the opinion that the Cycle is a feature of the universe anterior to the gods (see the Paarfiad for a representation of the latter's view of the former), and that the n-17 tribes that didn't make it lacked its protection so were doomed. Maybe they had Terran animal genes and offended the universe's sense of rightness...