[Dragaera] it's late and i'm a little punchy

[Philip Hart via Dragaera]

On Mon, 24 Nov 2014, Scott Schultz via Dragaera wrote:

>> From: Dragaera [mailto:dragaera-bounces at lists.dragaera.info] On Behalf Of
>> Philip Hart via Dragaera
>>
>> I made some arguments on this topic here a while ago, e.g.
>> http://dragaera.info/mailinglists/dragaera/archive/2003q2/007511.html
>>
>> Basically I doubt there there can be two emperors in a turn under normal
>> circumstances. I think there's a latency issue in communication between
> the
>> Orb and the Cycle such that Adron was the Emperor according to the Orb and
>> in the normal course of events would have been the Emperor according to
>> the Cycle, except that in a great Cycle the Phoenix do get two Emperors.
> This
>> would be a feature then, not a bug.
>
> Yeah, we've had some discussions about the Cycle in the past. One of the
> conclusions by the number crunchers was that it is *possible* for a House's
> reign to last beyond the ordinary lifespan of a dragaeran. (Note that we do
> not have any text examples of such a thing to say whether it ever actually
> happens.) The possibility implies that the Orb must have a way of handling
> the eventuality.

This is just based on Vlad saying 17**3, right?  Which might just be 
religious.  Or maybe it's healthy to wear the Orb.  Or some Dragaerans 
live to 5k.


> There is a latency, yes, though it is typically in the other direction. That
> is, the Cycle turns but the Orb does not automatically move. It takes a
> "ritual" exchange from one House to another, with the successful movement of
> the Orb being the normal indicator that the Cycle *has* turned. If it had
> not, the coup (assuming it was a coup) would fail.
>
> This is where we get into grey areas. Paarfi tells us that the Orb decided
> on its own that it must go to the  Dragon Heir. Why would it do that?

I think it's because there can be one Emperor/turn (the Teckla Republic 
requires an extra level of abstraction, presumably).  I believe here's not 
a hint in Paarfi about the possibility of T. handing the Orb to another 
Phoenix, which would be a very sensible compromise if it were possible.
(Hmm, the Goblets affair might be relevant.)


> But... one of the big themes in the Vladiad and the Paarfiad is the 
> unreliable narrator and Paarfi is particularly unreliable. He is a 
> historian who dresses up his history to be entertaining instead of 
> rigorous.

I think there are good reasons to believe he's actually relatively 
rigorous.  Such as him not getting killed for publishing his works 
(admittedly there's an Uncanny Valley situation).  And, well, when we 
have contradictions there're from Vlad, who's had Verra's hand inside 
his skull for starters.

> His reputation amongst his peers is questionable. He writes 
> authoritatively about things (like discussions amongst the Lords of 
> Judgement) about which he could not possibly have first-hand knowledge.

Unless he's Sethra.