On Wed, 15 Mar 2006, Maximilian Wilson wrote: > [fwd to list] > > On 3/14/06, Philip Hart <philiph at slac.stanford.edu> wrote: > > Well, I think he thinks that because there's no alternative but > > to take the throne - in a multi-emperor view, a bad situation > > might well be just a sign to chuck the idiot in charge. Aerich > > would say so, then Adron would make your argument, etc. etc. > > Unless it's a Phoenix, the house which is expected to "sink into > decay" as the Cycle turns. It would be a stronger argument if, say, a > corrupt Iorich emperor were deposed by Jhereg without considering an > alternative Iorich. I think the "sink into decay" bit would argue, in a multi-emperor scheme, for a greater awareness and tradition of handing off the Orb intraHouse. Tortaalik starts off determined not to become decadent, and some discussion of the literature around secondary emperorships would have been apropos if there were such things. Anyway, maybe it's time to go back to awaiting new data.