MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 957 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Re: Genderless by infodyn-+AT+-distrinet.com.uy (Eleonora Scoseria) 2) MPD Falconsbane by Rose 3) Dragonconale by mrtmh-+AT+-primenet.com (Lady 'Reesa) 4) Archives and Recent Stuff by dsarik-+AT+-PO-Box.McGill.CA 5) Equine Telepathy by singer-+AT+-iglobal.net 6) Re: Braid: Genderless/Songs/Imps/Fluff by "JAIME HATHAWAY" 7) Off-topic: MageWars by Jaguar 8) Winds?/bad guys/third eye/Ghatti/burnout by Soljan-+AT+-aol.com 9) Re: Dragonconale by infodyn-+AT+-distrinet.com.uy (Eleonora Scoseria) 10) pictures/MPD by Soljan-+AT+-aol.com 11) Re: Yfandes by phoenix-+AT+-icom.ca (Bruce Hunt) 12) Darkwind/Elspeth (and a little Vanyel) by singer-+AT+-iglobal.net 13) Re: Foresight by Chris & Sean Talbot 14) Re: Darkwind/Elspeth (and a little Vanyel) by "JAIME HATHAWAY" 15) Van's Final Strike/music/animal telepathy/just say no!/Dernyi vi by "Emily L Cartier" 16) Re: I'm back! help! by infodyn-+AT+-distrinet.com.uy (Eleonora Scoseria) 17) Re: (a little Vanyel) by "V. Brockmeier" 18) Re: Winds?/bad guys/third eye/Ghatti/burnout by tygriss-+AT+-juno.com (Sara A Youngblood) 19) Fluff: Misty/MZB Collaboration by Debra Cebulski 20) Re: Foresight by "Linda Malcor, Ph.D" 21) Companions Eavesdropping by singer-+AT+-iglobal.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 17 Nov 96 13:36 EST From: infodyn-+AT+-distrinet.com.uy (Eleonora Scoseria) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Genderless Message-ID: >On Sun, 17 Nov 1996, Eleonora Scoseria wrote: > >> >Cennydd continued: >> >> >Please note that even the Shadow-lover is not genderless. He/She is >> >always gendered, it just seems to change. >> >> The only text evd I can come up with is in MPromise, when Jaysen says >> farewell to Van after the latter has talked to the 'male' Shadow-Lover, and >> Jays refers to Lady Death "SHE promised you will not be >> alone, Van" (or words to that effect). >Lady Becky replied: > Hmmm, well, whenever I read that, I had taken it to mean that She >refered to the Goddess, Kal'enel (I think, I probably got that spelling >wrong) you know, the Shin'a'in one. :) He did continue to serve her, so >it would make sense she would be looking after Van. Just a thought. > MPromise Page 308 (PB ed.) Vanyel felt someone behind him, a lesser presence than the ShadowLover and turned. Van feels it is all his fault and Jays says: "Stop that. I knew you would take it that way, that's why I asked Her -Lady Death-to let me see you" , and then Jays goes on saying: "There's something else She told me I could tel you, Maybe it'll help. She promised you won't be alone" Then beginning to fade: "She promised, Van. And I promise" As to She referring to Kal'enel (or however you spell it :)), I don't think so. At least I cannot come up with any evidence of Van's worshipping Kal'enel. Even though he did train with the Hawkbrothers I don't remember their discussing religion, and do not recall Van worshipping a concrete deity. His creed was more of the King and Country sort. Also, the "She" we are referring to, was talking to Jaysen who was a Herald. What would a Herald of Valdemar know about Kal'enel? >Founder of the AftPoSWT (confused? Just ask.) You bet I'm confused. Could you explain?? Also, I have been advised to apply to the ladies of the Pink Wand, my main claim being that I'm a straight female who happened to fall in love with Vanyel . What do you say, ladies? Will I be accepted? Regards, Ele Priestess of Karma ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 11:49:47 -0500 From: Rose To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: MPD Falconsbane Message-ID: <328F422B.10C2-+AT+-ctol.net> Jaguar wrote: >Depends on whether or not you count Falconsbane...he was definitly > more than one person. Whether or not in the sense of MPD...well, >that's debatable. If we're going to take that approach, maybe it would be better to say that Andesha was the split personality. Since he was the original inhabitant of the body, and it was a traumatic event in his life that brought about the disorder. But, usually, it's the original personality that has no idea what's going on, not the second (or third). Imagine being a silent observer in your own body while another personality guides your body's actions! Only able to take control when the dominent personality is unaware! I'm still quite suprised that Andesha came out of his experiences sane. He must be a very strong willed character to have survived at all. Dyana ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 09:16:38 -0700 (MST) From: mrtmh-+AT+-primenet.com (Lady 'Reesa) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Dragonconale Message-ID: <199611171616.JAA02441-+AT+-primenet.com> >Barbara S. wrote: > >>Caution - strange idea ahead! >> >>It seems, IMMHO, that there're a ~lot~ of musically-inclined >>folks on this list, and I had an odd thought creep into my >>cranium the other day... [I'm being ~very~ careful with it - it's >>in a ~strange~ place! =)] >> >>What if, at the DragonCon, we got together and actually tried >>~singing~ some of the filksongs? Sort of a 'DraConale'? It might >>be a lot of fun...I've got one of the songbooks... >> >>ObMisty: Don't need one - this one's on-topic! And then Jake wrote: >!!! Yes! What an awesome idea. Now I have to piece together my bass AND a >weekend's worth of stuff for carry-on luggage... > >Seriously, Barbara, I love it. I'd love to! *grin* All we need is someone >in the Hyatt on a party floor to do it in. *grin* *grin* Know what guys? One of the main events of the QOC _is_ the all night filk circles...although our own private circle would be kinda nifty too! *grin* And I'm going to get you Jake..*grin*...he happens to know that Talyah, Shadow-Lover and I are registered at the Hyatt, on the Party Floor...so I guess I may as well make official! *grin* If you are all really interested in having a Misty-list filk-out, I hereby offer our room. Hells...I never expected to get any _sleep_ at this Con anyway! We may as well contribute to the party! You Know...the annoying one. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 'Reesa >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> INTERVIEWER: "Could you destroy the earth with the power of your mind? TICK: Egads! I _hope_ not! That's where I keep all my _stuff_! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< http://www.angelfire.com/az/LadyReesa/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 96 11:52:31 -0500 From: dsarik-+AT+-PO-Box.McGill.CA To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Archives and Recent Stuff Message-ID: <199611171702.MAA01945-+AT+-sirocco.CC.McGill.CA> Mel, Where is this new, updated site you mentioned for the archives? Also, did I do good with those rudebies a few days ago? Huh? Huh? Huh? love, deniz sarikaya -- dsarik-+AT+-PO-Box.McGill.CA ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 11:22:52 -0600 From: singer-+AT+-iglobal.net To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Equine Telepathy Message-ID: In response to what I wrote about equine telepathy, Ramona asked if such an ability might be attributed to "Extreme comcentration", or something like it. There is in the horse community a lot of discussion on this issue; when a horse-rider pair is close enough for that kind of communication, is the horse taking it from her rider's mind, or is she incredibly sensitive to body language; the tightening before a particular aid is given, and so on. Or a bit of both. And horses *are* sensitive to such nonverbal cues (what was happening in the cited case of Clever Hans). But...... I guess this is something you have to experience to believe. To touch a horses mind and soul..... I have to stand with exactly what I said; it is not something that can be easily explained in a concrete fashion. If I ever manage such an explanation, I'll give it another whirl. Those of us who feel it just accept it, like, well...magic. :) And between such partners there is not need for saddle or reins or aids....that *is* something like magic, and would have to be felt to be believed. Kind of like looking a Companion in the eyes for the first time, and having him or her speak in your mind. (BTB, with a really tight bond, sometimes they can *talk* to you.....and you wouldn't believe the smart mouths some of them have!!) Go Gently, Tresta %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Tresta shena Jor'ethan "Love must live free." Healer to horses -Shin'a'in Teaching %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "To be tired of horses is to be tired of life; horses are a gift to us." %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 12:24:01 CST From: "JAIME HATHAWAY" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Braid: Genderless/Songs/Imps/Fluff Message-ID: <4017A43260-+AT+-future.judson.edu> The textevd for a female Shadow lover comes when Vanyel is meeting with him and Jaysen shows up saying that he was killed, but that SHE, the Shadow Lover allowed him to come talk to Vanyel. Jacquelle Oh, very clever, Worf. Eat any good books lately? --Q ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 13:26:25 -0500 (EST) From: Jaguar To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Off-topic: MageWars Message-ID: Since I have no idea who is on the MageWars list or not... the White Coconut list is DOWN. We are in the process of trying to find another list to occupy, but at the moment, the MageWars are on hiatus. Blessed be, Jaguar Leader of the Cat People "Some try to tell me thoughts they cannot defend Goddess of Large Hunter Cats Just what you want to be...you will be in the end Chronicler of the Mage Wars And I love you...." Lady in Green --Moody Blues "Nights in White Satin" ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 14:54:05 -0500 From: Soljan-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Winds?/bad guys/third eye/Ghatti/burnout Message-ID: <961117145404_1815768269-+AT+-emout02.mail.aol.com> vix asked: << Is it worth reading--votes from those of you who've read it? >> I think so. I'm on my first re-read of it, and I really like it. I really like Tayledras, gryphons and kyree as well, so you can see why I'd like this one. I like all her Velgarth books. There are parts in every one that I don't care for, but I like them overall. On the bad guys theme: I agree that Misty seems to have...well, never really had the knack for writing a good villain. There are some "bad guys" who just make you quiver in anger at what they are doing. They make you so mad at the treachery in the ways they go about their evil deeds. Misty never really got that much of a response from me with her bad guys. Falconsbane, Hulda, Leareth, they were all bad because they could be. The only person that I really ah, liked? was the bad guy who got turned into a woman in V&H. Some of the villains I do like? Lemme think...Katherine Kurtz has some really good ones in her Deryni books. I'm blanking on names, but the one I'm thinking of is that fat Bishop. There were others besides him, but that's the main one I'm thinking of. Lady Sophia said: >>That book I was thinking of was "The Third Eye" by Lois Duncan!)<< I don't recall you mentioning that, but I really liked that book. I read it a while ago, but it's one of the few books that I still remember. Marsha asked: >>Has anyone read any of Gayle Greeno's Ghatti's books? I sometimes think my girls would mindspeak me if only they could. But, they do pretty well with just "yowling"!!<< I read the first one, and about half of the second. I like what I've read. They aren't Misty, but they're good. Two cats own my family, half brothers. Big ones for being barn cats. Sometimes I think they would do the same! Jake said: >>It's happened. I'm suffering BURNOUT! *thud* My book is at a stonewall, my roleplaying is dead, my writing is uninspired.. I can't even come up with humor anymore. How do you other writers combat this? Help..<< Hmmm...well, usually I just leave it be for a few days, and go back to it when I feel ready. I don't know if that's really an option though. I've had so little time to work on my writing lately, that when I get to it I write a ton of stuff. Lady Silvermoon LIG, Leader of the DDMF, Goddess of Sensitivity "May the moon light your path and guide you to your destiny." ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 96 17:02 EST From: infodyn-+AT+-distrinet.com.uy (Eleonora Scoseria) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Dragonconale Message-ID: Lady 'Reesa wrote: > *grin* Know what guys? One of the main events of the QOC _is_ the >all night filk circles...although our own private circle would be kinda >nifty too! *grin* And I'm going to get you Jake..*grin*...he happens to >know that Talyah, Shadow-Lover and I are registered at the Hyatt, on the >Party Floor...so I guess I may as well make official! *grin* If you are >all really interested in having a Misty-list filk-out, I hereby offer our >room. Hells...I never expected to get any _sleep_ at this Con anyway! We >may as well contribute to the party! > >You Know...the annoying one. > I have just checked out the Dragon*con Home Page (for any newbies like me, it is can be found at http://dragoncon.org) and I am simply dying to attend. If anyone is making a list of attendees, please count me in!! (I will almost surely be attending a business convention in the States at more or less that time, and what better way to end the trip than meeting you all ???) I wonder what my business associates will think when they find out I'm attending a SciFi & Fantasy convention?? (Cannot wait to see their faces) Love, Ele Priestess of Karma ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 15:34:39 -0500 From: Soljan-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: pictures/MPD Message-ID: <961117153438_1749502922-+AT+-emout03.mail.aol.com> Firemist said: << And silver veil? She was supposed to look ageless, right? the last I knew, ageless did not mean wrinkles like some sun-worshipping 80 year old crone whose face has turned to leather from UV exposure!! The only human portrait of his I did like was the one of Amberdrake Alone. >> I agree! I really hated that picture! It was also very...stark. There was almost no shading in that one at all. Her hair just had very sharp lines running through it. It didn't really look like hair. And something my sis noticed. (Yes Windshadow, for any of you who were here for her brief list occupation.) All the Tayledras look like they have fluff for hair! Hair doesn't look like it's drawn. It looks like down or something. And does Firesong's hair bug anyone else? I can't stand that little pointy thing he has on his forehead. And none of the pictures from the Gryphon books came out very good in the paperbacks. They are *extremely* blurry. I tried using them as a model for a drawing, and got no where. =b MorningStar said: >>I can't remember if I wondered about MPD in *Valdemar* or in *Lackey* in general... When the Bough Breaks had an MPD major character(s), but I haven't seen it in Valdemar.<< There isn's any in Valdemar as far as I know. Anyone remember my little thing about the Companion with MPD that I wrote a while ago? =) Since I didn't add this to my last post, here's a short sig. Lady Silvermoon ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 15:41:02 -0500 From: phoenix-+AT+-icom.ca (Bruce Hunt) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Yfandes Message-ID: <199611172023.PAA06265-+AT+-cujo.icom.ca> >I've been pondering Yfandes' seeming Foresight, and I'm curious as to >what all of you think...was her Foresight (:I knew when I Chose you >that our bond would come to this.:) specific or general? I mean, do >you think she actually knew that x number of years down the road she >and Vanyel would be fighting off Leareth (is that it? I'm so awful >with names from books I haven't read in over a year or so) in the >Forest of Sorrows? Or was is a more general Foresight, like she knew >that eventually they would die fighting some kind of evil somewhere? I would say its more of a general sense, since even Van's was general as to the final battle. Or here's another thought for you to ponder, what if Yfandes was waiting for Vanyel to come into power since Valdemar was going to need his service within a few years. >From the Heart of Fire Phoenix-Herne ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 14:51:40 -0600 From: singer-+AT+-iglobal.net To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Darkwind/Elspeth (and a little Vanyel) Message-ID: To whoever it was who was wondering if the Winds trilogy was worth reading: Absolutely. That trilogy was one of my very favorites (maybe because of the setting in the Vales) and the character development was wonderful. Elspeth *did* deserve to be knocked upside the head once or twice, but only once or twice. A lot of that series detailed her growth as a human being and as a Herald. I think Misty was very real with Elspeth; we see her shortcomings as well as her strengths, and we see her work on them. She really seems to grow as a person once she teams up with Darkwind. And even Darkwind has a few weaknesses (none of his flaws appear to be physical, by the way!) that he struggles with throughout the trilogy: notably his difficulties with trust and allowing others to help him. He and Elspeth did wonders for each other, IMHO, and the trust that they built between them went a long way toward healing them both, and helping them work through their difficulties. They shared so much, and on such a deep level; I find that a little daunting. Is anyone else a little frightened at the thought of such *intimate* sharing. , Scary. (and wonderful??) :} Anyway, I got very attatched to the Winds characters, and I was dissapointed that they didn't appear much in Storm Warning. Though I was happy to see so much more about An'desha, and I really did get into the story. Still, I was very pleased that Darkwind and Elspeth had a not insignificant part in Storm Breaking. It was wonderful to see them again, and to see their special interaction. Darkwind and Elspeth are an incredible match. And sometimes their, ah, chemistry is enough to make me blush. Is anyone else dying to know...are they married, or aren't they?! I know they had that beautiful little ceremony in Winds of Fury (my favorite of the three, I think, and mostly because of the way they are with each other), and Selenay made a reference to handfasting, but Misty never lays it out in black and white. In SB, Elspeth introduces Darkwind as her mate. Is this the same thing as husband, at least in this case?? (My gut says yes, but the uncertainty is eating me alive?!) What would their kids be like? Does anyone think they will have kids? I have also wondered just how old Darkwind is. We can make a rough guess about Elspeth based on references Misty throws in about the passing of time, and character statements about ages, but when I tried to do this with Darkwind (the most concrete thing I had to work with was the part about the age of the gryphon's children, and how old Darkwind was when they were born...) made him even younger than Elspeth by a couple of years. Not that this is impossible or weird or anything, but at one point on WoC he refers to her as "young Elspeth". and she is about 25, from what I can figure. And Darkwind, by similar calculations, would only be 22, at the most. Can anyone help me with this? Re: Objects of Unrequited Lust Ah- Lilac Fairy? I know the requirement for the Pink Wand is to "fall for" she'chorne men. But does "fall for" imply a physical interest? Re: Vanyel and Stefen Ok. Now that we've determined that Stef and Vanyel probably are, ah, together in the Forest, how do they get a little privacy? Do they just get a certain *look*, and 'Fandes fades into the trees? Surely she wouldn't eavesdrop. But really, could you do it with your Companion watching? Ewwwww! No Way!! Go Gently, Tresta %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Tresta shena Jor'ethan "Love must live free." Healer to horses -Shin'a'in Teaching %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "To be tired of horses is to be tired of life; horses are a gift to us." %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 16:31:47 -0500 From: Chris & Sean Talbot To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Foresight Message-ID: <199611172131.QAA22644-+AT+-nemesis.idirect.com> At 06:06 AM 11/17/96 GMT, you wrote: >At 10:49 PM 11/16/96 GMT, Lee wrote: >>Jacquelle asked: >>>> I've been pondering Yfandes' seeming Foresight, and I'm curious as to >>what all of you think...was her Foresight (:I knew when I Chose you that >>our bond would come to this.:) specific or general? I mean, do you think >>she actually knew that x number of years down the road she and Vanyel >>would be fighting off Leareth [snip] in the Forest of Sorrows? Or was is >>a more general Foresight, like she knew that eventually they would die >>fighting some kind of evil somewhere? << [snip] >> >>Vanyel dreamed of his death before he became lovers with 'Lendel; in the >>dream he fights magic-against-weaponry and is alone and knows he's going >>to die (and it isn't clear if he's a Herald or not). > >This is one of the things that irritated the heck out of me with _Magic's >Price_. All the way through the stories of Vanyel he keeps having his >flashes of Foresight and they keep changing and he's told that they are only >what "might" happen, that he can change what he's seeing, and then he >doesn't do a danged thing to change his vision at all when the time comes! >He was a major Herald-Mage, holding off an army at an extremely narrow pass. >All he had to do was stall until help arrived. So why waste power fighting >four lesser mages? Why waste power fighting Learth at all? Vanyel could >supposedly level half of Haven with his power. Why didn't he simply blow >out the bases of the canyon walls and seal the stupid pass? I literally >threw the book across the room at his alternative. I've since learned that >Misty and Larry plotted out the series when they first met. I suppose Misty >was unwilling to change what they had sketched out together or something >like that. Or maybe she just hasn't played enough AD&D to know what some of >the spells Vanyel had at his disposal could do. But Vanyel had absolutely >every reason in the world NOT to call a Final Strike at that point, and he >should have had the brains to figure out that there was a ridiculously easy >option. > >Danya > > No that is not always the case. Vanyel stalled as much as he could. It still wasn't enough. The way the spells work is a lot different in D&D. I have played it for about 10 years and you always find the spells afterwards that could have saved you. You never think of it while the attack is happening. For one thing Vanyel thought the the humans were mind controlled by the mages. Even though he could level half of Haven that wasn't good enough to destroy Leareth. He was better then Vanyel and could easily have killed Vanyel. Vanyel was lucky Yfandes came back in time to allow him to call Final Strike on Leareth or Valdemar would have been rules by the evil adept. Aistes ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 16:03:54 CST From: "JAIME HATHAWAY" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Darkwind/Elspeth (and a little Vanyel) Message-ID: <43C1CA13EC-+AT+-future.judson.edu> About, erm, doing it with your Companion watching...well, look at Kris and Talia. They romped around several times with Rolan and Tantris standing by....the first time was when they were in the Waystation--if that isn't close quarters, I don't know what is! :) And Gala tried to get 'Lendel to let her eavesdrop in on him and Vanyel...hmmm...curiosity.... Jacquelle Oh, very clever, Worf. Eat any good books lately? --Q ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 17:03:56 -0500 From: "Emily L Cartier" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Van's Final Strike/music/animal telepathy/just say no!/Dernyi vi Message-ID: <9611172206.AA06049-+AT+-udecc.engr.udayton.edu> Danya, have you ever been in a "for real" combat situation? I have never been in a "fight to the death" type of thing, but I know when I'm in a combat match (with model airplanes) the adrenaline can really get in the way of good decision making. I know Vanyel had a lot of experience in his type of fighting, but it's possible that the fact that he had had Foresight dreams about it was screwing around with his thinking. And sometimes it's really hard to see your options when you're caught up in a fight to begin with. Even the best pilots in CL Combat lose matches cause they get caught up in the adrenaline and the chasing around for cuts (points), and I know enough of the top rated pilots to have heard the postmortems of the matches that they lost. I found Van's not doing the logical thing (pulling down the pass) pretty believeable cause he was caught up in a wierd combination of Foresight memory and adrenaline, and I have done similarly stupid things in equivelent situations (for example, every time I fly my dad, I fly right into the ground). Cennydd said: >They also doen't generally have instructions for how to do things, >or lists of rules, etc. which is what the Pernese teaching ballads >were. Please give textual evidence that the Pernese ballads are lists of rules. They sound like pretty straightforward history ballads to me. And I agree with you that most European folk songs do not have "how to manual" type instructions in them, but what about religious songs? I have no proof of this idea, but I kind of thought that some religious music was passed down in a folk music manner (person A learns song, teaches it to person B by rote, person B teaches it by rote to person C). I'm not talking about Gregorian Chant, more the kind of religiously themed music that would be popular with commonors. Obviously, religious music would have "rules" in it, mostly moral ones. And Cennydd, "The Cumberland Mine" is a pretty good example of a history ballad, and the version I sing is definitely folk music (my dad learned it from somebody and memorized it, and I learned it from him thru memorization and somewhere along the way it changed quite a bit from the original). The lyrics are posted on the Web in the original form (without the music) and I could post my version if you want proof. Deb Cubulski asked about Misty and MZB's Darkover collab. It's called _Rediscovery_ and it is pretty good. It's about Magda's parents and Leonie Hastur and a black engineer? who was allergic to herself. About equine telepathy, I dunno. My dog, Buddy, seems telepathic with me, but I consider it more that I pay VERY close attention to his body language, and he does the same. He has one behavior that cannot be explained by that model. He will wait up at night for my mom to go to bed, and if she doesn't go to bed at a time he considers reasonable, he will get my dad to come and get her to bed. This behavior could be explained by the fact that he is a Tibetan Spanial, and he may have figured out that he can "guard" my mom against being tired. He also will do similar things, like follow you around if you are sick (and disapprove of you getting out of bed if you are sick). Again, this can be explained by him extending his definition of "guard". When I say he "guards", I mean that he watches the house for strange things, and announces any visitor by barking. He also shuts up when we tell him "It's ok, good boy for telling us". He is very fond of windows and high places because then he can see visitors who are still far away. He won't stop watching a visitor until he has been properly introduced to them, but that is a standard breed characteristic. Re: Chain email Just say no to chain email. If you must send it on, think before you post it to a mailing list. If a chainmail asks you to post it to x people, you can always post it that many times to the sender. It doesn't give you bad luck to break a chainmail, and you won't piss off everyone you send it to. DO NOT POST CHAINMAIL TO THE LIST WITHOUT ASKING AUNTIE MEL FIRST!!!!! Lady Silvermoon said: >Lemme think...Katherine Kurtz has some really good ones in her >Deryni books. I'm blanking on names, but the one I'm thinking of >is that fat Bishop. I think you've combined my two least favorite villains (meaning they are extremely well done to the point that I say "Kill them all!"). They are Monsignor Lawrence Gorony (who I believe was fat, but never a bishop) and former Archbishop of Valoret, Edmund Loris. They're from Kelson's time, and I just remembered Hubert, who was (I think) Archbishop of Valoret _and_ fat. He was from just after Camber's death. Or maybe you're thinking of all three of them. Re: the Evil Brother Most everybody has said what I would've said. I'm going to add one thing. Let your friend know that you are there for her! And if anyone else has a similar problem with an evil relative, or helping someone with an evil relative, talk about it. Don't tell everyone you know, but don't keep it a secret. And sometimes just telling someone makes you feel a little better. Lady Becky mentioned a problem with seizures that would've turned into epilepsy. I don't know anything about that, but the doctors think that my learning disability and the way I'm both right and leftside dominant may have something to do with the fact that I was deprived of oxygen while my mom was in labor. Of course, this is entirely possible, but I don't like the idea. Emily the invisible ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 96 19:51 EST From: infodyn-+AT+-distrinet.com.uy (Eleonora Scoseria) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: I'm back! help! Message-ID: Lady Becky wrote: > >I also found out something very interesting about myself and was >wondering if any of you wise and knowledgable people knew anything about >it. My parents told me all they can remember. > Right after I was born, my mother noticed that I would have >seizures semi-frequently. Now she was home with me and my sister all day, >and my dad was in the mountains working on engineering some dam, and >would only be home on weekends. Everyone thought she was just being a >paranoid mother, and that she was just being overprotective and I wasn't >really having seizures. They were wrong. She took me into the doctor, who >said there was something with my brain, the nerves weren't insulated or >fully developed or something (I wasn't born prematurely either) well, >they treated it and they went away. This is apparently a pre-cursor to >epilepsy, and if they hadn't have caught it that soon (I was almost 2 >years old when they finally stopped) I probably would have been an >epileptic. She said there was a name for this, but she couldn't remember >what. Does anyone know what the name is, or where I might find out more >about this? I'm really curious about wht kind of effects this might have >had, or maybe even still does have. One interesting thing is that I am >left handed, and left handedness has been associated with problems during >pregnancy, birth, or infancy. It can be a minor form of brain damage. >Okay, if anyone knows anything, all information would be useful, thank >you! Sorry for rambling. :) Bye! I do not know what the name is, but I can think of at least a site where you might find useful info. Try http://www.housecall.com/ also, though the following page is in Spanish (haven't got around to translating it yet), the links lead mostly to places in English. You could try: http://www.distrinet.com.uy/infodyn/salud.htm But I believe the first will be the most useful. I think there is even a possibility of emailing for advice. If your parents recall what medicines (if any) were used to treat you I might be able to come up with something. Hope that helps. I know by personal experience how frustrating it is to learn that kind of thing about yourself and not having it fully explained. Ohhh! I need an ObMIsty don't I? How about this? Why would a kyree like Warrl decide to go out into the world with Tarma, considering he must have had his Clan? And how did Rris learn all his stories? (weak, isn't it?) Love, Ele ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 16:45:10 -0600 (CST) From: "V. Brockmeier" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: (a little Vanyel) Message-ID: On Sun, 17 Nov 1996 Tresta pondered: > eavesdrop. But really, could you do it with your Companion watching? > Ewwwww! No Way!! Hey, Heralds have to so it with their Companions at least somewhat in their minds, experiencing things to some degree right as they happen. I know they kind of drop back, but the Bond can never be completely blocked. Visual stuff probably ceases to be such a big deal. Pragmatically, vix. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 18:24:16 EST From: tygriss-+AT+-juno.com (Sara A Youngblood) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Winds?/bad guys/third eye/Ghatti/burnout Message-ID: <19961117.172110.4591.0.Tygriss-+AT+-juno.com> On Sun, 17 Nov 1996 20:05:08 GMT Soljan-+AT+-aol.com writes: >Marsha asked: >>>Has anyone read any of Gayle Greeno's Ghatti's books? I sometimes >think my >girls would mindspeak me if only they could. But, they do pretty well >with >just >"yowling"!!<< > I read the first one, and about half of the second. I like what >I've >read. They aren't Misty, but they're good. Two cats own my family, >half >brothers. Big ones for being barn cats. Sometimes I think they would >do the >same! I've also read the first of the Ghatti books and really enjoyed it. I felt the cats similar to Companions. I've got 4 that own me and ALL of them talk. Both English and Felinese (which I finally learned). Thelia, my second-born is the most vocal. Tygriss-+AT+-juno.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 18:39:14 -0500 From: Debra Cebulski To: "'mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk'" Subject: Fluff: Misty/MZB Collaboration Message-ID: <01BBD4B6.A2BF4100-+AT+-kerowyn> Quoth Emily: Deb Cebulski asked about Misty and MZB's Darkover collab. It's called=20 _Rediscovery_ and it is pretty good. It's about Magda's parents and=20 Leonie Hastur and a black engineer? who was allergic to herself. I have "Rediscovery," and it is a good book. However, at one point = there was talk of a *second* MZB/ML Darkover collaboration, and I was = asking if anyone had news of this. MZB had even stated that Misty was = to "inherit" Darkover if MZB became unable or unwilling to write any = more Darkover, but has been silent on the subject since "Rediscovery" = was published. Thanks for the feedback. All the best, Deb Cebulski Lady of the Pink Wand kerowyn-+AT+-waltham.harvard.net ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 15:58:41 -0800 From: "Linda Malcor, Ph.D" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Foresight Message-ID: <199611172358.PAA06973-+AT+-latimes.com> At 09:48 PM 11/17/96 GMT, Chris & Sean Talbot wrote: >No that is not always the case. Vanyel stalled as much as he could. That's not what I meant. Misty repeatedly had Vanyel told that his Foresight was NOT what HAD to happen, that he could do something different to change the outcome--then he goes blythely ahead and does absolutely nothing to change anything (so why bring up the whole possibility in the first place?). Vanyel's Foresight apparently doesn't work like Herbert's Leto or Paul Atreides, where mutlitple paths are visible and the "prophet" can pick the "best" (not always the most pleasant) one. THAT would be a valid reason for calling a Final Strike. >It >still wasn't enough. The way the spells work is a lot different in D&D. I >have played it for about 10 years and you always find the spells afterwards >that could have saved you. You never think of it while the attack is >happening. I've played for nigh on 20 years, so let's not get into that war. The people in my campaign who play the high level mages have the original D&D, first edition AD&D and second edition AD&D all memorized and repeatedly send me running to the rule books to figure out if what they just tried to do is possible (They haven't been wrong yet.). All Vanyel had to do was cause an avalanche. Sure, Learth might have been able to dig his way out eventually, but by then help would have arrived. Magic Users tend to forget the physical world, but Vanyel had just had significant "down time" where magic was concerned. Plus, he had a ton of experience fighting by himself on borders, something Learth does not. And this is one of the oldest military tacitcs in the world. One man against an army at a bridge? Destroy the bridge. One man against an army in a pass? Cause an avalanche. >For one thing Vanyel thought the the humans were mind controlled >by the mages. I don't understand what your point is here. If anything, that would simply tell Vanyel that his opponents were distracted and bleeding off their power in another direction. If you think Vanyel's worried about sparing the humans, then why doesn't he think twice about slaughtering the ones anywhere at all near him when he calls the Final Strike? >Even though he could level half of Haven that wasn't good >enough to destroy Leareth. But he didn't have to destroy Learth. He only had to delay him until the army arrived. Drop half a mountain on top of the man and, if he bothered to dig himself out, he'd at least be weakened by the effort (and we know from later books that Learth/Ma'ar/Falconsbane would simply have abandoned the body and stolen a new one if he'd wound up buried alive). With very little expenditure of power (certainly less than Learth used to carve the Pass), Vanyel could have collapsed the walls (which are described as sheer and straight, if I recall correctly). If you can't take out the mage, the first question you should always ask yourself is "Can I take out what he's standing on?" If no, "Can I drop something BIG on him?" I gather from the Herald-Mage handout for Queen's Own (which Misty designed) that Misty thinks of the magic in her world as very similar to nuclear power--with both fission and fusion possible at Master level. Vanyel had the power of an Adept Guardian and then some! A couple of well-placed, small fusion (let alone fission) explosions at the base of those cliffs, and Learth and his mages and his army would have been in serious trouble while Vanyel and Yfandes would simply have had to step to either side of the opening to avoid being hit by whatever the explosion blew out of the mouth of the pass (Or Yfandes could have "fetched" them to a safe distance for that matter.). >He was better then Vanyel and could easily have >killed Vanyel. Vanyel was lucky Yfandes came back in time to allow him to >call Final Strike on Leareth or Valdemar would have been rules by the evil >adept. No. Vanyel did not call the Final Strike on Learth. Read the spell description. You have to call it on yourself, which is exactly what Vanyel did. Remember the description of the remains of his focus? Vanyel himself was Ground Zero for a nuclear explosion (the same kind of thing that destroyed Ma'ar's palace and Urtho's Tower)--that's what stopped the army. (There's just no radiation hanging around after such explosions in Misty's world.) Learth apparently got a bit mussed up in the explosion, so Ma'ar ditched the body and found a new one. And if Learth was so good, why did he mess around with the Pass in the first place? Why not simply move troops the Imperial way, with a good, old-fashioned Gate? Slip into Valdemar alone, find a lonely spot (such as an unoccupied Way Station in a forest) and Gate in your army--who's going to notice, even if it takes you weeks? Danya ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 21:23:40 -0600 From: singer-+AT+-iglobal.net To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Companions Eavesdropping Message-ID: Yes, I remember Kris and Talia . I guess the Heralds *do* get used to the Companions being such a part of their minds and their lives that they don't think much about it. Talia and Rolan are the only Herald and Companion I remember reading about with a bond too strong to block, but as someone else pointed out, even an "ordinary" Companion can only retreat so far. They must have an *idea* of what's going on. Does anyone else think they would have trouble with this; their Companion always being right there, knowing everything? And I mean knowing in general, not just about-you know. I would have a very hard time adjusting to someone always being in my thoughts; knowing what I was doing and, presumably, what I was thinking and feeling most if not all of the time. I think this complete openness is what I would find a little scary about a relationship such as Elspeth and Darkwind share. For another human (or being) to know that much about me......I would have trouble with that. I would have trouble relating to that person in any kind of a normal way. Not that I couln't learn....and if I were ever presented with such a magnificent opportunity (Companion or human) I would accept the offer with all my being, and work on the rest. There are distinct advantages to such a partnership. To always have a friend, a strong shoulder to lean on. To always know that there is at least one creature that loves you. I could go on, but I don't think I need to. We are all aware of the magic of such relationships. But I don't think anyone has addresed that it could also be really frightening to some people, and I just thought I might remind us of that. Go Gently, Tresta %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Tresta shena Jor'ethan "Love must live free." Healer to horses -Shin'a'in Teaching %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "To be tired of horses is to be tired of life; horses are a gift to us." %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 957 *********************************