> Given Daymar's power, I think anyone who has *genuine* contempt for > someone who can break through a military teleport block -- not to > mention everything else Daymar has done -- is entirely confused. > Don't confuse contempt for Daymar with contempt for his science or his skills. Daymar is the quintessential nerd. His associates have the same reactions to him that a group of high-school friends would have to the "bookworm" in the group who couldn't get less than an 'A' even if he tried to fail, talked above everyone's heads half the time, and had no clue that anyone might find him annoying. His place in the social group doesn't come from his personality. It comes from being basically forthright at all times and useful for skills and knowledge that the rest of the group would otherwise have no inkling of or access to. . The fact that the "nerd" is oblivious to both his nerdiness and to the teasing he gets from his friends is simply the hallmark of his role in the group. Being completely unaware/uninterested in the obvious personal gain he could achieve from it is a more than adequate reason for most people to hold him in contempt. In the "parable of the onion", Vlad insinuates that this is a trait of Hawklords in general, though I think Daymar may be an extreme case. Interesting picturing Vlad and Co. as the Archie gang. I imagine that Vlad and Loiosh would have an interesting conversation about which one of them is Jughead. *heh* As for the status of Psychics, I get the impression that there are probably several branches of "fringe" schools of magic. As noted, it seems to be rather similar to Witchcraft, though it's methods are derived from the Dragaeran left-brain approach to such things compared to the Eastern right-brain approach. It might well be a hallmark of House Hawk that it has nearly as many "schools" of esoteric science as it has family lines to research and teach them.