Jon_Lincicum at stream.com wrote: This raises (yet again) the question: who's more unreliable, Vlad or Paarfi? Majikjon Paarfi. By a factor of a multiplier of a power. Paarfi, for all his 'claims', should be read as entertainment, not as 'history'; we all know how many differences there are between what Paarfi 'states' and what Vlad relates to the little silver box as being told to him by various personages. The one that pops immediately to mind is the differences between where Paarfi says Morrolan is when Zerika descends Deathgate Falls, and where Vlad says Morrolan says he was. Remember, Paarfi is writing so that he can make money so that he can live in a manner to which he has become accustomed -- i.e. wenching, drinking, carousing, and most importantly never answering direct questions as to whether or not his writing is actually historically accurate. Vlad, on the other hand, is just telling a story; he's guaranteed paid (apparently a whole heap o' gold for each tale), he doesn't -need- to shade things to make himself look good. Or to make the story look good. If that were necessary, wouldn't Phoenix read differently, instead of 'I can't remember a damn thing about what happened during those few days, but when I read so-and-so's pamphlet about it, I found myself saying, 'oh yeah''?? He'd just tell US what happened, and steal the woman's work for his own. Hell, half the stuff Vlad does is virtually guaranteed to make him look like a bastard, a heel, a spiritually worthless son-of-a-bitch. Everything that Paarfi writes is intentionally slanted to make a good story, where his chosen characters are noble and honorable, or at least not all that bad. (Hell, even his bandits are courteous and generous...) Paarfi is good for a 'well, these events happened in ABOUT this way'. Vlad -- and through Vlad Sethra, Morrolan, Aliera, and the rest -- is far, far better for the specifics. In fact, I can't really comprehend why anyone would try to prove a point using Paarfi, when he's so clearly possessed of an agenda ... --------------------------------- Brings words and photos together (easily) with PhotoMail - it's free and works with Yahoo! Mail.