> > and Phoenix always seemed more > about the Empire and gods than the Phoenix in particular--I still > don't have a great sense for what Phoenix are like as a house. Dragon > yes. Teckla yes. I think my weakest "House Sense" definitely comes > from Athyra or Phoenix. > > Max > > -- > Teach him horsemanship, and archery, and to hate every lie. > -Herodotus, on raising sons I think Phoenix's gods-and-Empire approach is the right one, because in Dragaeran society, its like the Phoenix are the Brahmin, or the priest-caste...they're only a Phoenix when an actual phoenix flies overhead when they are born, which leads to the gods probably having something to do with it. Now that I think about it, maybe the Phoenix are the chosen of the gods, their personal power-players. After all, if basically all the Phoenix were in Dragaera City when Adron blew it up, and there weren't any in the countryside, that indicates they are pretty important. I mean, not one in a hamlet or a big city? What happens to those who don't have phoenixes fly over their head when they are born?