[Dragaera] not really a spoiler, i don't think...

[A. Craig West]

2010/1/19 Steve Rapaport <steve.rapaport at gmail.com>:
> Darn good point, Eugene.  I hear nearly nothing about the "Athyra Guards",
> and there's very little evidence of Athyra-Empire institutions remaining
> strong in the current part of the Cycle.
>
> BUT, there's also very little mention of Athyra in general, or of their
> influence.  So it's possible that my points are valid, but the evidence is
> lacking in this case, in general.  Maybe because something bad happened at
> the end of the Athyra reign, or maybe just because Steve forgot.

The something bad that happened at the end of the Athyra reign was, if
I recall correctly, the death of the Marquis of Pepperfield's due to a
poor art review. "The Phoenix Guards" also gives some evidence on
another point that has been in question. Page 29 of my edition
contains the sentence "The Imperial Palace was begun shortly before
the reign of Emperor Jamiss I, and the earliest version was completed
toward the end of his reign, which encompassed, in its nine hundred
years, the entirety of the reign of the House of the Vallista in the
First Cycle."
To me, this seems to strongly imply the answer to a question I have
always had, can there be more than one emperor during one House's
reign? (not counting the double Phoenix, of course)
If it is worthy of note that his reign encompassed the entirety of the
Vallista reign, then it seems likely that this is not always, or even
often, the case...
-Craig