> I'm not sure if this is really a fair statement. Certainly, > the residents > of Greenaere and Elde reject the *Empire*, but do we know > their feelings > as to the *Cycle*? > The Cycle only directly affects those outside of the Empire to the extent that the current administration is friendly to them or not. They probably don't think about it much. Regardless, it's not a question of the Cycle but of the gene pool. Elde and Greenaire don't practice the pure-breeding program followed in the Empire. As long as there were a few Phoenix who moved there in the past and adopted local culture, then there is the potential for a true-blooded Phoenix to be born to otherwise unremarkable parents. Granted, the odds are astronomical but if the Cycle itself intervenes then we're looking at what is effectively divine intervention. > > >However, do not forget that there is an entire House made up entirely > >of crossbreeds, which House is in fact also ruled by the Cycle. You're referring to the Yendi cuckoo theory? > How many full-bread Phoenix are there in the Jhereg right now > that only > need to be re-admitted to the House in order to count? Possible but if it was that easy then you'd think Zerika would already have tracked down such people and begun rebuilding the House. > Used to do it when? So far as we know, Zerika the First was the last > reborn Phoenix (before Zerika IV), so if the House did indeed > die off and > get reborn, then that all happened before the Orb came along, so it > wouldn't remember what they did before. > Majikjon There seems to be a common conception of Zerika I as a Reborn Phoenix. Zerika I was not "reborn". She was simply "first". Before her there was no House and the Cycle itself might even have been in flux. Remember that there were 34(?) tribes when the great migration started and Kieron and Zerika began building the Empire. There was no rebirth because there had yet to be a death. "Our" Zerika is the first Reborn Phoenix.