Howard Brazee <howard at brazee.net> Sent by: dragaera-bounces at dragaera.info 06/13/06 10:19 AM To "'Dragaera (E-mail)'" <dragaera at dragaera.info> cc Subject Re: Loraan, souls, and the Paths of the Dead >On 10:27 AM Jon_Lincicum at stream.com wrote: >> >> I contend that no intervention by the gods was made to "allow" them >> out in any of these cases. > >So you think that vial of blood was taken without the gods' approval? > >If the gods can say that Vlad can leave only once, we have to wonder >what will stop him from leaving a second time - unless the gods >"allowed" him to leave the first time. Well, let me backstep a bit here. Obviously, the gods *could* have prevented any of them from leaving if they wanted to. So to that extent, yes, the gods did "allow" them to leave. But having the consent of the gods to depart was not, itself, sufficient to allow them to leave. Each of them also had to have those attributes that prevented the very nature of the Paths from sapping their life energy as they departed. In the cases of Zerika, Aliera and Vlad, the gods knew that they would be able to depart. In the case of Morrolan, they did *not* know, and may have even tried to prevent his departure if they'd known what Vlad was going to do. In Orca, we learn that even Verra didn't know why she gave the vial to Kiera. Just that it was important that she do so. >The only part of this argument that I don't get is why there is one >category for all these different reasons, and another category for >Sethra. As far as I know, Sethra is also unique. Sethra is full Dragaeran blood. And while Iceflame may be as powerful as the Orb in Dragaera proper, it may not have the same abilities within the Paths of the Dead. Hence, the blood restriction may well have prevented her from leaving "alive". Forcing Sethra to become undead may also have simply been the gods way to punish her for declining their offer of godhood. Majikjon