MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 1705 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Vanyel questions *g* by Rainbow 2) Braid: Van/Birthingday/Marks by Jenni Halpin 3) The Fire Rose and fluff.... by Emerald Dragon 4) Backwash braid to save a drowning rat. by "Old Nicodemus" 5) Hi(really long, by my standards) by "Dreamfire K'Vala" 6) Re: Vanyel questions *g* and more... by "Thea Bergermann" 7) fluff by nathanh124-+AT+-juno.com (Nathan D Henderson) 8) Intro to Misty / Hello! by "Kerstin Bauer" 9) "FLUFF"-y towel, anyone? by "reginabean" 10) Re: Hi(really long, by my standards) by Kenneth Allen Hyde 11) Fluff and a STORM BREAKING SPOILER by Jenni Halpin 12) Re: fluff, and more fluff /ma'ar by "May Yi" 13) Braid/Fluff by Aramina2-+AT+-aol.com 14) The return of the gryphon and fluff by Amy Trujillo ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 10:09:50 +0100 From: Rainbow To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Vanyel questions *g* Message-ID: <3yrRQnAen761Iwwr-+AT+-leightons.demon.co.uk> OK I've got a question (or 2 or 3 or... *g*)! *g* *hears groans* In MPromise Van is worried about his children getting backlash from the attack in which Jaysen is killed... He mentions Brightstar and Jissa, but how about Featherfire? (I love that name!) Arved doesn't have Gifts, but Feather's Mage-Gifted... So how is /she/ protected? Also Van says in MPawn that Savil tested him, and he had /no/ Gifts there, so did the Gate collaspsing sort of rush through Channels that had /no/ intention of ever opening and blast them open? But Van says in MPrice that the reason Wfyren Wood made him uneasy was because of his Mage-Gift Potential, which according to Savil he didn't have... Van can work magic thro' Heralds with Mage-Gift in Potential, but how can Mages/Heralds tell that it's Potential? Is it because the Channels /look/ like they /could/ open? To use an analogy like tightly packed earth that no earthworm could get thro' and loosely packed earth that's easy to dig thro'... Or skin that is smooth and unbroken, or skin that has a scab on that could fall off and open the skin up (i.e. open the Channel up...) I'm just wondering about these... Oh and in reference to the Leareth = Krebain thread it COULD be possible IF Ma'ar managed to get an adult Mage-Gifted Adept relation who already has a powerbase and army to call fire while he was in 'limbo' *shrug* Possible, but farfetched... Snip <> /Snip I'm /still/ confused over Van and his Healing Gift... Savil /distinctly/ says that all his Channels EXCEPT for HEALING were blasted open... Healing was /still closed/ Van didn't have any Gifts before 'Lendel! I can accept that he used the nodes to boost the Gift, but where did the Gift come from? Oh yes... What does Earth-Magic come under? If Van had /all/ his Channels (excepting Healing) openned, then wouldn't he have, like the Tayledras earth-Magic? OK Now guess which books I've been reading? (And have a £5 fine on them at the library *wince* Which I don't have the money to pay for...) I'll shut up now... *g* Oh yes, /what/ 'part' am I in the SoF? Alto aren't I? I can't remember, and I'm /totally/ confused... *pout* (And I was in it from the start... *sigh* I invented the name... I /should/ know what's going on!) Avatar of the Goddess of Flions Rainbows and Crystals are mine to Command - CMoon IC sig (don't ask) 'If you want the Rainbow, _.-~-._ 'I ain't flawed, I'm just a you gotta put up with _.~ _ ~~~ _ ~._ diamond cut in a unique way.' the rain.' ,~ _ ~ -~- ~ _ ~, / /~ /~ RAINBOW ~\ ~\ \ ~Dolly Parton | | | |/-~-\| | | | ~ Tristan 'I don't take offence... I take revenge!' ~ M'lady (Wishbone) ZHAI'HELLEVA! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 09:07:13 -0700 From: Jenni Halpin To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Braid: Van/Birthingday/Marks Message-ID: <35EC1BAA.B6C-+AT+-uor.edu> Rainbow started asking about Van's gifts. Here's _my_ take: Savil probably wasn't interested in the mage gift in potential, because they didn't know how to activate it (and, I think, by the time Van was tested by her he was old enough that it would, typically, have opened if it were going to do so of its own). He never had Healing - or maybe the Mistyake is in saying in _Pawn_ that he didn't. As for the channels themselves, I think of the manner in which our brains become patterned and habituated by repeated usage. Hence the _development_ of gifts. So, these channels are the parts of the brain used in manipulation for fetching, farspeaking, foreseeing, empathy, etc. As for Vanyel working through folk with MAGE POTENTIAL, that, I dunno. My other question is, didn't Vanyel also open up Bardic Gift when he was burned open? If so, why didn't he ever use it? I mean, say, when performing for Treesa & co. ******************************* Muranog Shadowbane began to answer Wintershard on Velgarthian Birthday celebrations, commenting that with the Holderkin they were simply times to increase responsibility. Kris and Talia, though, celebrated them while on her internship. When Kris gifts Talia with the ring, he comments to the effect that "it's a pity none of your other friends could deliver trifles, but you must admit we are a little far away for that." To me, this implies that they give presents. I can't remember ANY other references, though. ************** Candlemarks, watermarks, and hours. All three are used to tell time. How many of each are in a day? Karal mentions that the Karsite water mark and the Valdemaran candle mark seem the same length, but what relation do these bear to hours, which the Valdemarans, at least, also use? Yours while I wait for a firecat, Jenni ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 09:32:38 -0700 (PDT) From: Emerald Dragon To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: The Fire Rose and fluff.... Message-ID: <19980901163238.21181.rocketmail-+AT+-send1e.yahoomail.com> > As for rarely discussed books, I wonder if anyone here enjoyed The Fire > Rose? I was absolutely in love with it! And although the magic was > different from what you normally see in her books, the plot was > interesting. I liked the character of Rose. She had a lot of backbone, > something you don't see a lot of in fiction when it comes to young, > single women. Something that perplexed me about this book to the end > was that Jason remained a hybrid even through the ending. He and Rose > were apparently able to overcome this and to marry anyway. Here's to > fiction's most unlikely couples. > > Kara, who has happily been granted permission to be known hereafter as > Musebeam. ;) > I heartily agree with your opinion about this book....I too found it strange that Jason stayed the way he did, but I am completely satisfied that the story ended the way it did...happy!.....Misty did a great job with the "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tale....I really hope that she writes more books dealing with fairy tales with a twist....they would definately keep my attention!! um..anyone read "The Golden Key"?...it's by Melanie Rawn and two other authors (sorry, can't remember the names of the other two but I know that they both are women)...I just got it and it looks really good, but I would really like some opinions on it... > Oh woe and wetness to thee, Meg, as thine own >lips have betrayed >thine secret! *With such a phoney accent and terrible >melodramatics, it >can only be ... YVONNE!! She swoops out from behind a >drape and-* >~~~SPLOSH~~~ Ha. Gotcha!! ::grabbs a HUGE towel from backpack and begins to dry off:: umm...thanks (I think?)....I guess that I deserved it Yvonne.... ::heads over to table and puts a big basket of Wisconsin Cheese on it for the ferrets:: I hope that they like it...I got it special from where I live... ::heads over to table in the corner of the room and empties books from backpack...arranges them in order and puts a sign on the table - HERE ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS BY MY FAVORITE AUTHORS. FEEL FREE TO READ ANY OF THEM, BUT PLEASE RETURN THEM WHEN FINISHED. THANKYOU. - (authors include Misty ((of course!)), Tanya Huff, Robert Jordan, Raymond Feist ((spelling?)), Melanie Rawn, and Anne McCaffery ((again, spelling?)) (others will follow)..)...also puts a basket of sheep cookies of many flavors with a sign on the basket - FREE SHEEP TO ALL. - ...:: Please enjoy these gifts of mine! I hope that you all enjoy them....I know I will! ::sits down in the comfortable chair next to the table and begins reading her book "Elvenbane"...:: Hope you all have a wonderful day!! Multi-colored sheep to everyone!! Meg (who will hopefully be going by the name Ember if allowed) Survivor of the Wisconsin Winters! == Follow your heart!!! You never know where it may lead you. _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free -+AT+-yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 12:46:32 -0400 From: "Old Nicodemus" To: Subject: Backwash braid to save a drowning rat. Message-ID: <199809011645.MAA27841-+AT+-bsd1.se-tel.com> *several curses and despairing comments on my old ISP's lineage* Im getting a back wash here!! Kinda like haveing a Gate pour everything its got back into your reserves!! EEEP!!!*** Sorry about this but I have no idea how old these are. Im gonna braid these togther so bare with me. (Someone reach me that ribbon...) ********************************************************** > Magefire k'Vala, who wishes that physics books had > instructions on > building Gates Oh but doesnt Quantum Physics deal with String theory and "wormholes"?? >Someone asked what other books we read at the moment ( sorry, no name - Oh good Gods!! Im on a horror kick!! Not just any horror kick or Id grab a King novel I just read Pandora by Anne Rice and it got me started. *rolls eyes* Ive re-read my entire collection of Master Lovecrafts works and my Tannith Lee novels and Im still looking hungry for more!!! I wish I had a Mary Shelly Story, or maybe Poe...*whine* >I've been reading the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton, and, if you like vampires, I have to recommend Vampire$, by John Steakley. This book is being turned into a movie. EEEP!! Awesome book!!! Movie you say?! Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... >On the villain thread, I think that Ma'ar was the best villain. Oh yeah!! I have to agree here!! I also like the artwork of Falconesbane!! Wow. OC, Im also wondering if we think this because we got inside Ma'ars head more than any other villain (exempting Ancar??) >Know what I want? Keth's phases of the moon thingie! You know, on her forehead! That is soooo cool! Hmmmm, Im not sure. Have you ever heard of Prymind Books?? They sell "new age" items like that. I think they have a website you can try searching for. >Oh, the Shrike, I'm sure. It's huge, it's apparently immune to everything, and that translocation bit it does, well, let's just say I'd hope it never took it into its head to appear INSIDE my shields. *blink* Whats a Shrike?!?! >a kind of rock-celtic...guitars, synthesizers, drums, the whole deal but to celtic music and lyrics....does ANYONE know of a group that plays that type of music.... *ears perk up* Woof! LOL try Tempest!! Most notable their album entitled "Serrated Edge" ( Yes it is...) I would go so far as to gingerly place Steeleye Span in there also. Um, Capercaillie as well. Theres another band called Oysterband but Ive never heard their stuff, just had them recommended. >::: Reading Misty by candlelight is very soothing, by the way. EEEEP!!!! *the romantic in my furry lil body is about to explode* WOW! Now that would be a nice evening. Imagine *reading* Misty to a loved one over candles and champainge. Watching the smile blossom as your words spin images of tragedies and triumphs!! Ahhh, now that would be near Haven ( pun intended) Ok, ok, Im shutting up now...Billie Joel always puts me in this mood and Ive been listedning to him for almost five days straight. *sigh* ObMisty: *does a braid like this require and Ob?!?!*** I noticed a lot of Katherine Kurtz popping up in that backwash of posts so I was wondering. Would anyone else like to see Kurtz and Misty team up for a Sir Adam Sinclair Diana Tregarde crossover?? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 11:20:30 -0700 (PDT) From: "Dreamfire K'Vala" To: List Subject: Hi(really long, by my standards) Message-ID: <19980901182030.29574.rocketmail-+AT+-send104.yahoomail.com> Heyla, sibs, I'm back. I just finished deleting the 616 messages I had from the past few weeks(I was in Vancouver). Except one, that Top Ten Oathblood list. Cute. Anyway, just some stuff I was pondering while I was gone(half of which I just forgot). First, some of you people have strange names that come up in my inbox. I mean, not to flame, but Herder of Ferrets? The Evil Rutabaga? It sounds kinda like someone has a little too much time on their hands(no offence). Second, I was reading the back of The Free Bards, and I was complaining to my mother that whoever writes the back covers for Misty's books obviously does *not* read them to carefully. For TL&TW they wrote(sorry, not a direct quote, the book's at home and I'm at school)that Rune played the Ghost to sleep. Excuse me? Anyway. Next, I just bought Sword of Ice and other tales,blah blah blah, and I'd like to comment on the story, Sword of Ice.By the way, this story is co-written by Misty. It's about how Savil met Starwind, SPOILER* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Whew! Anyway, He's blown up by something, I forget what, and she finds him through his bird, and sends him energy to heal himself with. He takes her back to the Vale and makes her Wingsib. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * END SPOILER Anyway, throughout the story, Kellan is referred to as a *he*. Next, > Candlemarks, watermarks, and hours. All three are used to tell time. > How many of each are in a day? Karal mentions that the Karsite water > mark and the Valdemaran candle mark seem the same length, but what > relation do these bear to hours, which the Valdemarans, at least, also > use? > ******************************************************* There are 24 candlemarks in a day. I can't remember where or in which Misty book I read it, but someone said some thing like, "there are only 24 candlemarks in a day and only so much I can do in each one". There was something else I wanted to comment on, but it's gone now.Oh, about Van's gifts. Bardic Gift was really small in Van, which is why he didn't use it much. Another, about Healing. I thought they said that evey thing was open with the sole exception of Healing in MPawn. So how come he can hold himself together in MPrice when he's captured and raped? Just musings, of course. == Zhai'helleva, Dreamfire ************************************************************ Reality is only for those with no imagination. ************************************************************ _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free -+AT+-yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 20:47:06 +0200 From: "Thea Bergermann" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Vanyel questions *g* and more... Message-ID: <199809011745.TAA17879-+AT+-scatopharga.doso.de> Rainbow wrote: > In MPromise Van is worried about his children getting backlash from the > attack in which Jaysen is killed... He mentions Brightstar and Jissa, > but how about Featherfire? (I love that name!) Arved doesn't have Gifts, > but Feather's Mage-Gifted... So how is /she/ protected? He has the Vale Shields about him (he's male, and hetero)... and as a Tayledras mage he should have lots of shields. He's working in the uncleansed lands, after all, and has Vanyel for a father... I think Savil said something about her spending days on end in the nodes the day Star-what-was-his-name(-wind?) told her that she could get caught by blood relatives. She said she put shields over all people (Withen in particular) related and with potential. So Feather or his foster-fathers should have taken the same precautions against "relatives-backlash" from Van's side. > Also Van says in MPawn that Savil tested him, and he had /no/ Gifts > there, so did the Gate collaspsing sort of rush through Channels that > had /no/ intention of ever opening and blast them open? But Van says in > MPrice that the reason Wfyren Wood made him uneasy was because of > his Mage-Gift Potential, which according to Savil he didn't have... Savil looked and saw nothing but potential, what a pity (for her). But Potential makes you sensitive, even if you never get the ability to cast spells and fling energy around... And energy has to go somewhere. Van was deeply linked to Tylendel, and as they collapsed the gate, I think that the energy found it "easier" (it's non-sentient, but...) to break the "paper" (blocks on channels) than use the heavy floodgate (dispersing (word/spelling??) in earth and air). So you have blasted channels everywhere the energy wanted to go and found "little" resistance. > Van can work magic thro' Heralds with Mage-Gift in > Potential, but how > can Mages/Heralds tell that it's Potential? Is it because the Channels > /look/ like they /could/ open? To use an analogy like tightly packed > earth that no earthworm could get thro' and loosely packed earth that's > easy to dig thro'... Or skin that is smooth and unbroken, or skin that > has a scab on that could fall off and open the skin up (i.e. open the > Channel up...) Good question. As of yet, I have no theory... --snip-- > I'm /still/ confused over Van and his Healing Gift... Savil /distinctly/ > says that all his Channels EXCEPT for HEALING were blasted open... > Healing was /still closed/ Van didn't have any Gifts before 'Lendel! I > can accept that he used the nodes to boost the Gift, but where did the > Gift come from? No textev on hand, but I think Savil talked about "blasted open to the widest (whatever english word means "width" here) (extent?). Healing and Firestarting were blasted open in a way that "only" ensured that he could do self- healing and light a candle. "Nothing more". ... Or so I think... > Oh yes... What does Earth-Magic come under? If Van had /all/ his > Channels (excepting Healing) openned, then wouldn't he have, like the > Tayledras earth-Magic? I think he had, but it's always easier to blast something apart with node energy than thinking your way through a subtle but effective solution involving earth-magic. Also, Van was most of his time a combat mage. Levin bolts (WHAT are they? lightning? I never found out) are a wee bit more direct and usable than anything else in such a situation, don't you think? > OK Now guess which books I've been reading? (And have a £5 fine on them > at the library *wince* Which I don't have the money to pay for...) Ah... The Earthchildren Series? no, the ...hm.... Darkover Novels?... no, that isn't right... Pern!... Dragons.. no .. *I give up* Now a question on my own: Van uses a lot of nodes / node magic. He feels _very_ sore after something like that. Especially his hands hurt a great deal after using this kind of raw power. Now, why don't have Elspeth & Darkwind this little problem? Also, they don't use focus stones and "personal working rooms". Have anyone any Idea why that is? Greetings, TheaEvanda Addictee to filk and embroidery and sailing Bad mage but a wizard on the recorder ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 15:51:17 -0400 From: nathanh124-+AT+-juno.com (Nathan D Henderson) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: fluff Message-ID: <19980901.155121.4254.0.NathanH124-+AT+-juno.com> :The missing GryphonStorm limps in looking hungry and poorly groomed. :FOOD, BATH, HELP, PLEASE!: Gryphon Fanatic, GryphonStorm _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 15:21:35 +0200 From: "Kerstin Bauer" To: Subject: Intro to Misty / Hello! Message-ID: <01bdd5ab$72a0b2e0$LocalHost-+AT+-kerstin> Heyla! My Name is Kerstin and I'm from Germany. I'm quite new in this list, I couldn't write earlier, I've been to England for three weeks and I had to go through this huge amount of e-mails from this list first. Belive it or not, I got exactly 699 e-mails in three weeks and almost all of them are from the Misty-Newsgroup! :o) I thought I should introduce myself. I'm 17 years old and I like Fantasy books a lot. My favourite books are Queen's Own, The Lord of the Rings, Memory, Sorrow and Throne by Tad Williams and a lot of other things. But my very favourite book is Queen's Own. And that's how I got into Misty: I looked in a book's list for some new fantasy books to read, I think it's almost 3 years ago. I found some interesting books, but I couldn't decide which one to buy, so I wrote each title on a piece of paper and I drew lots. The result was that I should go and buy The Herald's of Valdemar, and so did I the next day. At this moment I didn't know which luck I had! I LOVE Queen's own, it's undescribable wonderful. I cried a lot at the end and the next day I went to the bookstore to look for other books by Misty, but I was very dissapointed as I realized that there weren't any other books from the velgarth series translated to German. Also the Queen's Own is out of print now, I'm so happy that I bought it. Misty isn't very famous here. There was just The Bard's Tale (which I bought of course! And I liked the first one, too, but the other books of the Bard's tale aren't very good, I think), and last year there was a new book which misty wrote together with Marion Zimmer Bradley from Darkover and another which wasn't so good (I think it's called "The Tiger Clan of Merina"?) When I got my internet account last christmas I was very surprised as I discovered that Misty wrote sooooo much other books about Velgarth which aren't translated. So I'll have to buy the books in English. I got The Silver gryphon and Storm Rising cheap in England, and in germany I ordered Winds of Fate. As soon as I've collected the rest of her books I'll read them. I won't be able to write much in the mailing list because I don't know many details about the other Velgarth books, I only know the story in general. But I'm very happy that I've found the mailinglist! Bye, Kerstin ICQ#: 6649540 PS: Hey Kat! I'll write you soon! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 18:41:38 -0400 From: "reginabean" To: Subject: "FLUFF"-y towel, anyone? Message-ID: <199809012244.SAA18501-+AT+-smtp3.erols.com> First, I sincerely apologize for the pun. I couldn't resist it. as for the fluff... >> As I carefully watch for buckets of water appearing magically out of the >> sky, Reginabean leaves the list in hopes of remaining dry. Bwa ha ha ha!! *Yvonne sneakily >sneaks up behind Reginabean and-* >~~~SPLOSH~~~ *Gotcha!! Welcome to the MLML! Iffen you ask around, I'm sure >somebody or other will give you a towel!! *Yvonne gestures to her watery >gown and soaking hair* I'd give you one, but I'd be wet too. :) *Reginabean looks around desperately, realizing that she has no towels with her. She gives her best almost drowned kitten expression, complete with big hopeful blue eyes. "Does anyone have a fluffy towel I could borrow?"* ObMisty: Hmmm. Umm. Well, I know I don't have any of the answers of the questions that have been going around...Umm...Gee I think all that water went to my brain...oh, here. well, it's not really an ObMisty... Am I the only person who finds it impossible to read books in the order they are supposed to be read in? (I started with Arrow's fall, then the Mage Winds Trilogy, then the Mage Wars Trilogy, then the Mage Storms Trilogy, The Last Herald Mage trilogy (which I read last, first, middle), Owlflight, By the Sword, Then the Vows and Honor series, and now, finally, I am getting around to reading Arrows flight.) This of course means that when I've finished Arrows of the Queen I'll probably go back and read them all in order... OK, I'm doing that babbling thing again... Reginabean ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 19:35:07 -0400 (EDT) From: Kenneth Allen Hyde To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Hi(really long, by my standards) Message-ID: On Tue, 1 Sep 1998, Dreamfire K'Vala wrote: > First, some of you people have strange names that come up in my inbox. > I mean, not to flame, but Herder of Ferrets? The Evil Rutabaga? This criticsism is coming from someone with the email username of "Dreamfire k'Vala"? =) A little "pot and kettle" wouldn't you say? *grin* ObMisty: you know, we may have been thinking about this whole "Van's Healing talent" thing from the wrong angle. It's possible that it's a case of ambiquous terminology. Perhaps, when Savil found that he didn't have Healing, she was right. But he is a powerful mage with Fetching. Maybe he didn't have Healing (the talent), but he might have had a small talent for healing (the generic activity) using his magic and Fetching talents. One of the problems with this kind of non-distinct jargon vs. general term is that it's very easy to get mixed up as to which interpretation is meant (e.g., "smoking" which might refer to smoking tobacco (the general term) or smoking marijuana (the slang meaning)--How do you answer the question "Do you smoke?"). Anyway, my $0.02. May the seas be your solace and the forests a refuge for your spirit, Cennydd Councilor of Mist Kenneth Allen Hyde | No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife Univ. of Delaware | between the shoulder blades will seriously Dept. of Linguistics | cramp his style -- Old Jhereg proverb kenny-+AT+-Udel.Edu | A mind is a terrible toy to waste! -- Me //www.ling.udel.edu/hyde/prof/ken.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 16:44:54 -0700 From: Jenni Halpin To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Fluff and a STORM BREAKING SPOILER Message-ID: <35EC86F0.2D05-+AT+-uor.edu> Stepping only barely beyond the edges of the shadows, gathering her courage to move through the edge of light, Jenni tosses a VERY fluffy towel in the direction of Reginabean. "Oops!" As it hits her (very gently - for it is a FLUFFY towel) in the face, covering the almost drowned kitten look in her blue eyes. Visibly steeling herself, she walks further from the edge of shadow toward GryphonStorm. The purposeful prowl of her walk is muted by her obvious desire to be anywhere but such a centre of attention and light. Reaching him, she unfolds a table from the sack at her side, removing a small pouch of pins and a set of gryphon brushes from the sack as well, and placing them on the table. Then she reaches once more into the sack, removing the head and forequarters of a deer. These she places before the gryphon. As he begins to eat, she takes up the brushes and goes to her self appointed (and obviously necessary) task with a will. As she grooms, taking some care to avoid flecking mud and brush onto her wine-dark trews or the others in the hall, she recalls her past knowledge (though at a very second hand) of gryphons. SPOILER COMING UP! Where did the gryphons in NORTHWEST of Valdemar come from? Devan in Arrows comments that he's seen them in flight. But they're, iirc, with Clan k'Leshya in the far far SOUTHwest and in the northEAST, in Iftel. And the Tayledras don't know of them (Darkwind recalls that they were on the "friendly though we've never seen one" list for his people). END SPOILER Continuing in the grooming, she begins to search for feathers which need to be pinned in place. A presence intrudes on her awareness, and she looks down. A group of ferrets has begun to dance about her feet. Sighing, she removes the pouch from her side, closing it rather securely and laying it on the table, hoping that, if she is splooshed, her towel (without which she never leaves home) will remain dry for her use. Precaution thus taken, Jenni returns to grooming the gryphon. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 17:24:30 PDT From: "May Yi" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: fluff, and more fluff /ma'ar Message-ID: <19980902002432.12091.qmail-+AT+-hotmail.com> > >:The missing GryphonStorm limps in looking hungry and poorly groomed. >:FOOD, BATH, HELP, PLEASE!: > >Gryphon Fanatic, > > GryphonStorm *The human looks up at GryphonStorm's arrival* "Whoaaaa what happened to ya? You look like you got run over by a truck!" *Busily, she begins working on cleaning the poor gryphon (You are one, right?)When she gets him to a presentable state, she passes over some meat, and waits for him to tell his story* ObMisty: was Ma'ar really the first of that long, long, long line of evil mages? Could there have been more before him? Yea, thats all, short, I know... hold back on the rotten fruit, please! Luv, May Human, Starwolf Wolf, SkySong Dragon of the endless short questions ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 21:14:23 EDT From: Aramina2-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Braid/Fluff Message-ID: Dragonchilde wrote: << Ah, the joys of high school. How I miss it. Heh. Yeah, right. I went to a Catholic all-girls school and while my class was the first not to be forced to wear a uniform, we still had a pretty strict dress code. I got threatened with detention a lot for wearing hats to school. >> Ha. I know how it is. I'm stilll stuck in an all girls catholic school with uniforms (which are extremely ugly as well as awkward. And what''s worse was on our first day, while filling out a survey for one of my teachers, I had to listen to about half the class complain that reading was stupid and why would they ever pick up a book outside of school? I felt like using one of my hardbacks to smack some sense into them! Arrrrrgh. ********************FLUFF****************** :The missing GryphonStorm limps in looking hungry and poorly groomed. :FOOD, BATH, HELP, PLEASE!: :A woman with light brown hair and eyes steps out of lurkdoom to help one who really seems to need assistance: Whatever happened to you? Bad day? :Hands him fresh meat and with a wave of her hand conjurs up a warm bath with towels.: I'm afraid you'll have to have someone else help with the grooming. I'm not that god with feather brushes, *********************END FLUFF*************** Thank you to whoever cleared up the confusion about time systems (my delete finger's working over time or else I would thank you by name.). I've always wanted to ask about that but I never seemed to get around to it. ObMisty: When Altra first appears to Karal, Karal thinks that Altra has the same name as the Sn of the Sun who... and the thought trails off as Karal goes to sleep. Does anyone have any ideas of what Altra's first incarnation did or is this a mystery? ~Aramina~ "Tomorrow is the busiest day of the week." Old Spanish Proverb ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 23:07:00 -0500 From: Amy Trujillo To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: The return of the gryphon and fluff Message-ID: <35ECC45B.7311-+AT+-southwind.net> Heyla all, ************** The woman in green aproaches the group that is attempting to help GryphonStorm. "Well I don't know how much help I will be, smiles apologetically at the now dripping Jenni, but I do think I have found the owner of at least one more of the things that my ferrets have stolen." The lady holds out the feather that has been lying on the table with the friendship ring, and the sock. She also hands one of the groomers the purple towel that was among her ferrets' plunder. "I don't know who's this is but I am sure that they won't mind if a list sib in distress makes us of it. Now, lets see if I can distract you and keep you still while these wonderful people do their work." Looking at GryphonStorm she shakes her heard in wonder. "However did you get in such a shape? The last I remember you had just finished splooshing some newbies and seemed in fine shape." Her ferrets, ever curious approach GryphonStorm and instantly pegging him as a friend they begin to "help" by dashing around the griffon, moving brushes, and popping out of towels much to the groomers' annoyance and the lady's amusement. "Well if nothing else you will be entertained by my friends, but please do tell how this happened." Conjuring a chair the lady sits and with her chin on her knee waits for the tale that will surely be told. ************************ Misty related............um, oh May asked if Ma'ar was really the first incarnation of the evil mages over the centuries. I think that he was, if you will remember the scene where Skan and Urtho confront him at the end he kills himself saying that he had discoverd a way to live forever to quote exactly from page 377 of Black Gryphon: "You see, I know some things you don't. I have won! I will live forever! And I will hate you forever-all of Urtho's people, all your children, and their children, and I will hunt you all down, Do you hear?" Also in one of the Winds books I think Falconsbane talks about his first incarnation and how magic was undisrupted and his memories of Skandranon defeating him. If nothing else, I think that his overwhelming hatred of gryphons, Talyedras and Shin'a'in would probably stem from his first life. It was his first failure, if some other creature had defeated him before I can't help but think that Falconsbane would have been obsessed about them and not the gryphons. If nothing else Ma'ar and Urtho were supposedly the most powerful mages ever and it would probably take an immensely strong mage to construct what Ma'ar did to insure his survival. Until next time, magical blow drier sheep for the groomers and pretzel sheep for everyone else Amy Ferret Friend Lady of All Things Missing, Especially Socks ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 1705 **********************************