[Dragaera] Dragaera Digest, Vol 27, Issue 15

[J C]

replying to the thread after only reading half of it, so my apologies for a reply that may already have been covered:
 
"I am not recalling any direct evidence that amorphia existed prior to the rebellion of Verra and the other servants. This would certainly settle the point if there is any. It's clear in Issola that a large part of their interest in Dragaera NOW is the presence of amorphia, but I don't think it's ever said that that's why they went there originally."
 
I am of the personal opinion that ALL of Steve's books can fit in on the same "reality" timeline.  From _To Reign In Hell_ through _Freedom and Necessity_, _Cowboy Feng's_ and all the way on to _Dzur_, I think they all have the same historical framework.
 
If that pet theory is correct, and I would say that there is textev (though hardly conclusive) to that end (Devera, for instance) then the presence of _TRIH_ in the timeline "settles the point" about the prior existence of amorphia to the rebellion of Verra and the LOJ.
 
In fact, viewed in that light, there are the two theories that become a little bit more fleshed out as a result:
 
1) the "EPA in Ghostbusters" theory, ie, that the LOJ breached containment on the amorphia reactor releasing all the ghosts into New York City, errr, all manner of chaos (pun intended) onto Dragaera City.  
 
This indicates that the LOJ pulled a Vlad and unleashed the amorphia on the understanding that this was a very risky move to pull, but that it would ultimately be more dangerous to the Jenoine than to the LOJ.  It would be like a tactical nuke.  It's CRAZY to deploy it, and it's suicidal, but it REALLY gets peoples' attention :P  This theory is backed by Verra's agreement that Vlad's reprise of his unleashing of chaos in _Issola_ was, in fact, a good move. Furthermore, the LOJ may have had an ace up their sleeve; we have no confirmation that they can *create* trellanstone, but we do know that they came into possession or at the very least control of a rather nifty piece of the stuff, as per _Issola_ (paraphrasing, AFT:) "Is it rare?"  Vlad asks, "It only occurs as a gift from the Gods." Morrolan replies.
 
If they had control of a piece of trellanstone, and furthermore, realized what effect the necrophia in the trellanstone had on amorphia, they could very well have breached containment on the "lab" almost with impugnity, essentially laughing as the Jenoine panicked and were destroyed or driven off, before controlling the outbreak and creating their own private arms cache in the Greater Sea.
 
Actually, given that this line of thought originates from the continuity of all of Steve's books, could it be that necrophia (or the trellanstone + necrophia piece) is a piece of the wall of heaven from _TRIH_ perhaps preserved, like a bug in a piece of amber, in trellanstone.  It may have broken off during any of the waves, or perhaps during the sundering of Heaven.  Either way, I think, if true, that this should be a proper indicator of just how rare and valuable a substance necrophia/trellanstone is.
 
2)  The "chaos bomb in the mess hall" theory, that the Gods perhaps planted a seed of amorphia while the Jenoine were studying latent human telepathy/psychic energy.  
This theory fits just as well as the first, but for different reasons.  Again, it's backed by Verra's reaction to Vlad's use of uncontrolled amorphia in the confrontation with the Gods--they'll have almost as much confusion and inability to meet this threat as they did last time, assuming their tapping of the lesser sea yielded little to no information on the subject amorphia, and a nice psychological fear of the stuff thrown in for good measure.  A very tactical use of chaos, nicely indicated in just such a situation.
 
If this is the case, and again, keeping in mind that the original postulate is that all books exist on the same reality time line, then I would hazard a guess that the Gods managed to find, on Dragaera, a "weak spot" between the worlds, much like the one used by Zerika to corporealize on the physical plane after being in the POTD.  This weakspot, however, was a weakspot in existence, a link between the realm of Creation and the Flux.  And, like a stopper in a leaky barrel, they decided to pull it out, creating the Greater Sea of Chaos, scaring the living shit of out of the Jenoine, the ones who survived, anyway, and then decided to use their powers to augment the power of the "plug" they removed from the fabric of creation to allow it to contain the Greater Sea.  Perhaps they'd found out about how to work with Trellanstone/necrophia prior to this, as part of the "resistance" movement that precedes every rebellion.
 
Another point in favour of this theory is that the Imperial Orb requires further modification to extend its power and influence during the VoA series, which allows for the greater effectiveness of Sorcery, seemingly implying that the Orb has already been modified to have some effect on the Greater Sea already.
 
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I think there are parallels between Illiaster and sorcerous/psychic power that need to be explored, especially with regard to how Trellanstone/necrophia affects them.
 
But again, only if people agree with me insofar as the timelines of all of Steve's books are essentially one and the same.
 
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