With Regards to Vlad Taltos Lavode: I think it could be a very interesting possibility--but it would involve changing Vlad's blood chemistry around. I think it would be easier to use Vlad, if he were to be used in such a manner, as a kind of "free agent". Kind of like the Sorceress in Green or the Necromancers are. So there's the Lavodes. Can't get the job done? Call in one or more of your spectacularly talented/equipped allies. However, Steve has been making hints that there's a Lavode in the works. If she were smart, she'd use Morrolan. I think she said that "he's" not ready yet. We could of course be referring to Teric or whoever it was that changed gender, being reborn or something, and still having to change gender into either a male or female, but that's rather absurd, don't you think? Anyway, also with regards to Vlad asking Loiosh if Rocza were pregnant, I think Steve's a bastard. I totally didn't get that clue (wait, maybe I did, way back when and forgot it) that it was probably because Cawti were pregnant. Also, I wonder if the lifespan of sperm could be extended via witchcraft to include a longer time between copulation and actual conception. Either way, it probably wouldn't be a matter of more than a handful of hours or even a couple days. Jon