On 6/15/06, Davdi Silverrock <davdisil at gmail.com> wrote: > > Although I do find myself wondering if perhaps Aliera's birth (and > acceptance as a Dragon) might have had some influence on the Dragon > Council deciding that perhaps the e'Lanya line of Dragons was a better > choice for the Heir than Adron. Even if they accepted Aliera, there > might have been a vague distrust of Verra and her motives that made > the choice of changing the Heir just a bit easier. > Some musings on the above: Perhaps there might have been sufficient question over Aliera's legitimacy as a proper Dragon, shortly after she was born, to cast a shadow over Adron. There's a bit of a kerfluffle as the Dragon Council tries to cope with this completely unprecedented situation. Even if Adron testifies under the Orb; even if the genescans all check out; even if Verra gives direct testimony to the Council as to Aliera's provenance; the situation is so unusual that it becomes desireable to find someone a little less controversial to be Heir. Thus, the e'Lanya line is chosen instead. However, some indeterminate period of time later, K'laiyer's politics turn out to be unacceptable to Sethra Junior. When she discusses it with her friends the SiG and Baritt, several options for discrediting K'laiyer might have been discussed, but the whole "legitimacy casting a shadow over the parent" from the Aliera issue might well have inspired them to take the course of action they did. An uglier possibility is that Adron, holding himself insulted by having Aliera's legitimacy questioned, was more involved with the choice of accusations against K'laiyer and Miera than the text of /Yendi/ makes it appear. This sort of mean-spirited, spiteful revenge would make Adron a rather petty (and evil) person, but I think it could be argued that the escalating conflict between Adron and Tortaalik leading up to the Disaster was an exercise in mutual pettiness. At any rate, after K'laiyer & wife are safely dead, Aliera would therefore have been provisionally accepted for long enough (a few centuries, perhaps?) that she would have been a very attractive young woman that the Council had had time to become accustomed to, and there would thus have been no objection to making Adron the Heir again. Of course, the internal politics of the Dragon Council will never be revealed, so it is rather useless to speculate. But nevertheless.