> > Of course, the death of Zerika might finally herald the > true death of the > > House, thus triggering its ACTUAL rebirth,perhaps even on > the same day. At > > the moment of Zerika's death, a phoenix appears above the > Phoenix Wing. It's > > discovered that two women, descended from "unheralded" > Phoenix ancestors, > > That is to say, crossbreed bastards. > Maybe. Again we don't know what happens to the "unqualified" children. It might well be that those keep to themselves and do manage to keep the line pure. In any case, what does Empress Norathar do when presented with children that pass every genetic scan applied to them in spite of having questionable parentage? Especially if those children are "heralded"? Even if Aliera's science of genetics isn't precisely the same as ours, the underlying concepts appear to be the same. Geneticists would know that throwbacks were theoretically possible and the sudden presence of many of them would surely be taken as a sign that the Gods had intervened to re-create the House. See, the parents matter for establishing rights and titles, but the genes matter when it comes to membership in the House. If the children pass the scan then they're eligible. It becomes a political problem at that point. With no existing members of the House alive to object, it's pretty much up to the discretion of the Empress and her advisors. The Empire requires a House of the Phoenix so I can't imagine that there'd be any question of declaring the Houseto be re-established. It would be more a matter of shaping the newly reborn House and getting whatever advantage that various groups and individuals might try to procure for themselves in the process.