vonGenf, I was always OOC suprised Joseph tried to convince Ciann of stuff instead of just pulling Holy Rank and flat out ordering her by virtue of his position. He could have just passed a Holy Writ and demanded she surrender the throne and presto-chango, she'd have put Ryeena back in charge.
Anatole's letters are basically "I'm an elder, I know what's right." Which saves Arcachon a lot of thinking, which is good as Arcachon is not so good at the thinking.
