Third excerpt!

It's been up for a few days now! No-one's read it? No-one wants to discuss it?

It's been up for a few days now! No-one's read it? No-one wants to discuss it?

[Rysade]

[Rysade]

[Birdhead]

*bounces* I don't mind talking about it!! What do you want to talk about?? Allow me to briefly express how pleased I am:

*bounces* Yeah, I'll discuss it seriously too, but I'm currently under duress to go and watch Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood with my family, so that will have to wait...
Ka Kite
Tui

Tuibird in Aotearoa
Conservationist, Scientist, and proud of both!
Chocolate lover extraordinaire...
Ahahahaha, ahahahahaha, ahahahaha...
My mission: Bringing Maori to the world!
Spelling Freak and Typo Queen

Never mind, I can wander over there!

[PK]

Hopping over here since I think it's sort of technically supposed to be here.... Various questions, many stemming from a discussion of whether Roshaun is, isn't, has to be, might be, ought to be, or can't be evil.

Topiclets:

Sker'ret: So far has not distressed anyone exceptionally nor been distressed -- or at any rate any upset over the mess got drowned out in the jangling temperaments.

Dairine: Some speculation on crush behavior. Also, could one of the dozen more reasons Tom DIDN'T read out have anything to do with the fact that her areas of duty and expertise seem to involve alien cultures as it is, and thus a trip off planet doesn't really fit her as either vacation or a learning experience? (Of course, I get the feeling coping with her guests may be more LE than vacation. )

Roshaun:

Evil?: I almost want to say he's too annoying to be evil, though I would be astonished if he isn't problematic. "Almost" because the possibility isn't really ruled out -- but I don't think we have enough evidence to say it's certain.

Possibly inhabited by a Power: I think this would be interesting. I know Serena's suggestion was that he was one we hadn't met; Birdhead pointed out the differences between Roshaun's annoyingness and that of Ronan or Peach; I think probably the personalities would vary and somewhat whimsically suggested (despite having already seen that one) that it was "one with socialization problems."

Unfortunately I somehow failed to clarify that I was thinking along the lines of the redeemed Lone Power as requiring, perhaps, some practice in learning to work with (as opposed to fighting or manipulating) people again. Not that this made the discussion any less interesting, but I didn't realize it until Birdhead suggested that version of the LP independently for somewhat different reasons.

Various points against: We already HAVE a manifestation of the Lone Power elsewhere in the book, and Roshaun might be one too many; it seems rather odd that a character inhabited by that or any other Power would have his life or death uncertain in future plots, though I suppose you never know; Roshaun's having to learn to consider others might be more satisfying if he's just a run-of-the-mill mortal; the Lone Power, no matter how out of practice It might be in using this for constructive purposes, is hardly unfamiliar with tact.

*pauses to catch breath/stretch fingers*

General related topic: How affected Powers are by the mortal they inhabit. Also, what about Biddy? I got the impression she just took on a mortal body, rather than riding in one that had its own personality; for some reason I'd thought this also applied to Peach, but then Kit compared it to the Lone Power hiding in/overshadowing Pralaya. (Only, then we have the point about the Lone Power being at the bottom of everyone's soul....)

From the point of view of the unredeemed LP, Roshaun's remarkable ability to exasperate could be an obstacle... well, either that or he'd be after causing dissonance, ruining the learning experiences for everybody else, and making Dairine ineffective, but I really doubt that's the point... From the perspective of his possibly being inhabited by the redeemed one, though, a LE about getting along with other people (honestly, that is -- existence of tact, constructive employment of it... ) might be good practice for both of them.

Roshaun either hasn't ever learned it, or has only learned it in a limited context that reeeeeallly doesn't translate well elsewhere; the redeemed Lone Power... definitely HAS people-skills but might (or might not, depending on how such things work for Powers) be rather badly out of practice in using them for anything but deception and manipulation.

Name: Why doesn't his public-in-the-Manual name include being a wizard? Is he on Ordeal? Actually a Power? If a Power in-avatar, why would he be on the trip anyway if the avatar isn't a wizard? If you get the energy authorized, do you HAVE to send a wizard? Is he hiding it for some reason? Is it assumed to be implied by something ELSE in his name? Is it not something he regards as that important yet? Does anyone have further possibilities to suggest?

Questions NOT relating to Roshaun! Much.

"It says 'NONINTERVENTIONAL' right there in big letters."

It certainly does. In the Speech, yet. It's made very clear that the excursus program has plenty of purposes to justify the energy expenditure, of course -- officially it's a sort of educational vacation, a cultural learning experience the wizards are meant to enjoy. (Nita and Kit discuss 'homework' assignments of a sort, stuff they're supposed to observe. Of course, wizards are apparently picked in part for liking to learn things, so this works well. ) Somewhat intertwined, there's the sort of personalized LE we've been talking about for Roshaun. (And Filif, Dairine, possibly Sker'ret, Carmela....)

Then there's "Of course, if anything comes up, you take care of it" -- so it might be noninterventional, but it's no surprise if you're expected to intervene with something -- which is perhaps interesting in light of the there-are-no-accidents (especially in something the Powers personally organize?) chant which leads Dairine to wonder, if her three guests are the answer to something on Earth, what the question could be. Curiously, she doesn't seem to wonder what Nita and Kit might be the answer to on Alaalu....

Maybe she should, since on this "NONINTERVENTIONAL" (right there in big letters ) visit to a planet that only needs one wizard (most of the time?) they manage to run into the Lone Power. In person. Again.

Is "noninterventional" a hint to the question in the summary of the Lone One working on "the good deed of a lifetime -- or is it?"

If there is that much of a question, I can think of two explanations. One is that the LP is up to no good (as usual) and being extremely successful at obscuring this -- possibly even from its siblings, unless "noninterventional" does not mean what it's being assumed to, and apparently enough to confuse the kids a bit one they arrive. (But in this case, do the Bright Powers not know? They try to hide their work from the Lone One; is this a case where the LP has so far been successful at hiding from them, and they're just noticing? If so, is that actually an accident, and what was the question Nita and Kit were supposed to answer? If not, how do you get 'noninterventional'? Augh! )

The other is that we've got either the redeemed version or a shadow on its way to being redeemed, and the version they meet IS trying to do good -- and is apparently having some trouble convincing them of this. (But why? If the redeemed one, wouldn't they be among the best people to recognize it? As a Bright Power, what rules apply to direct meddling? As a progressing shadow, are they supposed to help it along, or what? Does it even make sense to have a shadow make its way separately?)

The third most obvious possibility, of course, is that I'm misinterpreting the blurb. Help? Confuse the matter further? Something?

And of course... what the heck IS <i>grenfelz</i>ing, anyway?

Think that's enough for now....

[db_pr]

I think I know what grenfelzing is but if I write it down probably a couple of **** will appear so try to work it out for yourself.

"Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on it's dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie."
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep rootsare not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

sry im new here but i thought that someone said there was a third excerpt!?!?!?! uuhhhh did i miss something somewhere?? i thought there were only two (two gr8 ones by the way)

[PK]

Liz -- Sorry, I guess that's a bit confusing -- as I understand it, the stuff on the first excerpt page was put up in two stages, so the second excerpt page is actually from a third update.

db_pr: :P Possibly, but for some reason I suspect that isn't it. Just a feeling though, no real evidence. (So, do you have chelicerae?)

[Snip the Cat]

Roshaun is just the classsical snobish royalty that never look at his neighbors. I know someone like that. The only thing i'm asking is "If wizards are the answer, then what's the problem?"

Snip the Cat:
That is true, but your forgetting something, hes from a different world. How can we say he's the 'classic' royal when we don't even know how other royals on his planet act?
What does "if wizards are the answer, then what's the problem?" have to do with this?
Wasn't that in Deep Wizardry when Nita and KIt are on the moon with Nita's parents?

" Duct tape, the stuff that holds the universe together."A Wizard Alone by Diane Duane
- Serena