MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 1942 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Re: Companion Question (and a new question!) by Abigail Laughlin 2) Gods/Goddesses and Various Braid by Liss 3) Re: 'Fandes by Dawn Woodard 4) Re: Darkover books and lame obmisty & a question by Crescent Moon 5) Re: Companion question [and a couple of my own] by Chris Robertson 6) Re: TMBG and questions by Sorana Stargem ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 10:00:59 -0400 From: Abigail Laughlin To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Companion Question (and a new question!) Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.19990422100059.007cb100-+AT+-mail.montreat.edu> <> I am fairly sure that was intentional and that it really was Eldan. Note, in BtS, when Eldan comments to Kerowyn, "got to know this little bit called Selenay pretty well--gave me a shock when I found out she was the Heir." (Or something to that effect.) This implies that Eldan and Selenay are pretty friendly. <> Actually, in Wheels of Fire, Alinor notes that before the Spanish brought horses to America, the American-based Sidhe's elvensteeds took on the shapes of deer and bears. It was only after they had seen horses that the elvensteeds took on those shapes. We're never shown an elvensteed's true form or told what it looks like. But given the fact that very often there's no reason for them not to be using a 'true' form, if they've got one--for instance, Maclyn leaving Rhellen in the kitchen to watch the phone--I wonder if they even *have* one. Zha'hai'allav'a, Raven Darkblade and Mor the raven, Holy Hand of the Goddess of Elves, Member of the Mistic Circle and Webmaster of the Circle of Stone, Knight and Founding Member of the Order of Unsung Heroes; Advocator of Eldan, Champion of Kethra and Hyllarr, Devotee of Maclyn and Worshipper of Tal Rufen. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Apr 99 08:46:47 PDT From: Liss To: Mercedes Lackey Mailing List Subject: Gods/Goddesses and Various Braid Message-ID: <19990422154649.4122.qmail-+AT+-www0g.netaddress.usa.net> Heyla Listsibs! This is going to ramble a bit and it's kinda long. *gee, I'll bet you're all surprised!*: As I've mentioned before, I'm re-reading Storm Warning. Sorry if this is a spoiler for anyone, but since the book's been out for _five_ years, I'm not going to stress too much on it. In one of the later books (Rising or Breaking), we find out that Karse's Vkandis is the same God as Iftel's, who call him Vkandys. In this first book, how many people caught that the Star-Eyed is probably the same goddess as Vkandis's consort? *textevd alert!* On page 168(hc), Karal is reading Hansa's journal and wondering what had happened to the order of the Priests of the Goddess Kalanel and when did her statues in the temples disappear? The Star-Eyed's name is Kal'enel. Coincidence? I think not, especially when Misty usually uses _very_ close sounding names to imply that people are the same (Savil/Sayvil, Jaysen/Jasen, etc.) Also, it really fits into how things are interconnected in her books. There's really no point to bringing this up, it's just one of those little interesting things that the books have been reminding me of. Sorana wrote (a while back): >Also, I'd like to start the Darkover novels by MZB...which would be a >good one to start with?? Someone suggested Darkover Landfall, but I'm really not particularly fond of that one (especially as a place to start). Otherwise, I'd say just about any one. I jumped in the middle when I started reading the series. One other suggestion: _Don't_ start with the anthologies, unless it's Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover (all written by her). They're written by other authors, with "alternate" versions of Darkover and could really confuse you fast. Songrunner wrote: First of all, how do Companions decide who Chooses each new Herald-to-be? I've always thought it was sort of like a life bond. It's whichever companion is the most appropriate for the needs of the Herald-to-be. As I think someone else was talking about, life-bonds aren't primarily about love. They're about needs that balance out. In the case of the royal twins, it may be that whatever God(s), "being(s)", etc. that make those choices are not sure what they will need yet. Because of their personality many of the companions hope it will be them? That's just my thoughts anyways! Crescentmoon wrote: i meant, how do you have the kaled'a'in in Skan's series if they were created AFTER the Mage Wars? or was it a different war they were created after? I know that Songrunner already answered this, I just have some things to add. The reason that the Kaled'a'in split after the Mage Wars was magic. Seeing the devastation of their lands, the Shin'a'in didn't want to use any at all, except in service of the Star-Eyed. The Tayledras thought that magic would help heal the damage. As a result, the Star-Eyed dedicated the Shin'a'in to protecting the magic artifacts left by Urtho in the Dhorisha(sp?) Plains (site of Urtho's stronghold). The Tayledras were required to use magic to heal the damage left by the Mage Wars between the Plains and Lake Evendim (Ma'ar's stronghold) in what's now known as the Pelagirs/Pelagris Forest. As Songrunner said, the modern Kaled'a'in are the ones that weren't forced to make the decision about magic use. Major apologies for the length of this. I guess one looong post is better than many short ones, though. *Liss tosses slightly soggy sheep-shaped gum drops to everyone. Sorry about the damp, it's raining again here!(sigh)* Liss .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:. half_asleep-+AT+-usa.net http://members.tripod.com/half_asleep To subscribe to Twisted Jokes visit: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/twistedjokes .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:. ____________________________________________________________________ Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 17:24:22 -0700 (PDT) From: Dawn Woodard To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: 'Fandes Message-ID: <19990423002422.8069.rocketmail-+AT+-web218.mail.yahoo.com> --- Tanya Evans wrote: > Well then the next question is... How did 'Fandes > survive her former > Chosen's death, when it was made pretty clear that > Companions usually don't > outlive their chosen heralds, and I'm pretty sure > she did have a former > chosen since it was implied that 'Fandes had chosen > before. > > - > Ellevaranachai Shay'Nara'Val > Herald Trainee, but Bard wannabe => > Rethwellan by Nature, Chosen by Virtue I just recently joined and this is my first attempt to reply, I hope this works. I've read "The Last Herald Mage" trilogy at least 5 times and I knew that this didn't sound quite right. Companions only Choose once and die at the same time as, or minutes after, their Heralds. So, having looked through the list and reading all the replies that seemed to address this subject, I was compelled to go get the book off the shelf. (Working in a library, this was very easy to do.) On page 211 of Magic's Pawn, Jaysen says,"...Yfandes *chose* Vanyel? The only full-grown Companion in the field that hasn't Chosen-the Companion that hasn't Chosen for over ten years-and now she's Chosen *Vanyel?*" You can almost hear the surprise and indignation in this comment. Jadzia. _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free -+AT+-yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 19:00:21 EDT From: Crescent Moon To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Darkover books and lame obmisty & a question Message-ID: <19990422230021.55231.qmail-+AT+-hotmail.com> thanx for replying, and i think i pretty much understand what you were saying, songrunner. but, um, if you don't mind i've some more questions. Um, how did you know that? was it in one of her books or something? also, um- well, nevermind, my second question is too lame to even ask. thanx, Crescentmoon _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 18:15:00 PDT From: Chris Robertson To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Companion question [and a couple of my own] Message-ID: <19990423011502.37423.qmail-+AT+-hotmail.com> Heyla, Herald Katherine wrote: >well amidst all this grove-born companion business, i've come up with >another piece of grove-born buisness. > >alright here we go: >in the mage storms trilogy, it's mentioned that there has never >before been two grove-born companions in valdemar at once. okay >that's all well and good, but isn't the monarch's companion supposed >to be grove-born? maybe i'm wrong but didn't they mention that when >Elspeth was chosen???? so doesn't that mean that Selenay should have >a grove born?? (can't remeber her companion's name) I think it's the Monarch's Own's Companion who's Groveborn. the Monarch just has a regular companion - Selenay's Companion is Caryo. I ahve no idea why i remember that, having only seen him named once, but i do. A couple of requests for small-denomination [sp?] coins: Zha'hai'allav'a is the Tale'sedrin [ie Children of the Hawk] clan greeting. It's fine for them to say "wind beneath thy wings" but what do the other Shin'a'in Clans say [has one fo the books ever told us?]I cannot imagine a member of Jor'ethan [Bear clan] saying zha'hai'allav'a - i've never seen a flying bear and i never want to. On another subject, how do Heralds or Companions die if their other Heraldic half dies? Do they suicide or just drop dead from the trauma of having the person on the other end of the Herald-companion bond ripped away? Please, bring on the $.02's! Wind to thy wings if thou hast a desire to fly, otherwise sheep-shaped edible things of thy desired flavour to thy hands. Shadowlight ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 19:54:52 PDT From: Sorana Stargem To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: TMBG and questions Message-ID: <19990423025453.64855.qmail-+AT+-hotmail.com> Heyla all! Seuroqi wrote: >First of all, I'd just like to say that I disagree with the general opinion >of the MLML, in that I actually like Storm Warning, at least - I just read >it, and I think her characterization is very sound. > >Given what other people have had to say about my opinion of Knight of Ghosts >and Shadows, I have come to the conclusion that I have absolutely atrocious >taste in Mercedes books. *grin* Well, _I_ don't think so! _I_ happen to _like_ 'Knight of Ghosts and Shadows' and 'Summoned to Tourney', and the Storms trilogy, _and_ 'Owlflight'! You shouldn't go by the people who _didn't_ like the book. What I've noticed is that most of the people who _did_ like it don't speak up as much. Or at least, that's what I've assumed. It's the only I can think of to explain it. Confusing, huh? Raven Darkblade wrote: >Actually, in Wheels of Fire, Alinor notes that before the Spanish >brought horses to America, the American-based Sidhe's elvensteeds >took on the shapes of deer and bears. It was only after they had >seen horses that the elvensteeds took on those shapes. We're never >shown an elvensteed's true form or told what it looks like. But >given the fact that very often there's no reason for them not to be >using a 'true' form, if they've got one--for instance, Maclyn >leaving Rhellen in the kitchen to watch the phone--I wonder if they >even *have* one. Well, it's possible. Maybe their 'true' form is goo. Like Odo. Could you just imagine one of them attempting watch the phone as goo? ~L~ "Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!" --Ace Rimmer Sorana S. Stargem Herald-trainee, %-+AT+-"So free for a moment High Priestess to the Goddess%-+AT+-Lost somewhere between the earth and of Unicorns, %-+AT+-the sky Goddess of Flions, %-+AT+-So free for a moment Knight of Amber and Marigold,%-+AT+-Lost because I want to be lost Knight of the OOUH %-+AT+-Don't try to find me" --The Martinis http://www.angelfire.com/wa/mylagoon/index.html _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 1942 **********************************