> I liked it, too. But it raises an interesting question: how the hell > did the Jenoine manage to not notice chaos-creation abilities as one > of the "gifts" they implanted in their test subjects? Or perhaps their > experiments on humans/Dragaerans were not so precise. Also, does this > mean the Jenoine named Kieron? How did he and the other members of the > 31 tribes learn language/culture, if not from parents? If humans and > Dragaerans started out from the same stock, and the Jenoine are the > creators, why would a slightly modified variant who holds honor in > high regard want to wipe out his cousins? > > Some of these questions make me think that the Jenoine experiments > involved genetic manipulation, but also limited evolution by letting > their experiments breed. Going back to chaos, this means that either > the Jenoine deliberately built-in chaos-creation abilities in three > (or more) lab rats, or these lab rats gained these abilities through > mutation (possibly Verra-aided mutation?), which in my mind takes > parents that are not Jenoine. > > Thoughts? > > Jose > > -- > Jose Marquez | There are 10 types of people in > jhereg69 at earthlink.net | the world: those who understand > http://www.hackwater.com | binary, and those who don't. > > What, you never heard of the Law of Unintended Consequences...? <g> I agree with your thought that the Jenoine were gene-splicers -- they didn't create Dragaerans so much as tinker with their genome. Have you read a Larry Niven short story called WHAT GOOD ARE CHOCOLATE-COVERED MANHOLE COVERS?...? In it he posits that an alien race created several different Gardens of Eden, intended to later interbreed the descendents in order to take advantage of "hybrid vigor". What if that's what the Jenoine were up to when they created the various Dragaeran races/houses? Suppose they wanted the various breeds to, well... breed for long enough to establish certain traits, at which time they could interbreed them to produce whatever it is they're looking for? We know that it's possible for mongrelization of the Houses, however uncommon.