Of Towers and Primes - or, Where Are They Now?

[Jovian]

So I'm in the middle of hideous crunch at work, which of course means I've been inspired to pick up and dust off my Talent fic. It's set after the last book, so I'm currently trying to work out a comprehensive list of who ended up where, in terms of Primes/Towers/Planets. I don't have the books handy, but I've been poring over the Towerdex to glean everything I can from it. Can anyone add any of the missing details, correct anything I've got wrong, or just add comments? =)

[Star League towers]
Earth - Jeff Raven
Callisto - The Rowan
Deneb - Jeran Raven
Procyon - Cera Raven Hilk
Iota Aurigae - Damia Raven Lyon
Vega - Ezro Raven
Betelgeuse - David
Capella - Capella
Altair - Bastian and Maharanjani (still?)

[Hiver planets]
Talavera - Ivy/Andy Dumas, Scott/Stuart/Sara (still?)
Marengo - Morgelle
Iwojima - Vagrian Beliakan
Ciudad Rodrigo - Flavia Bastianmajani (did she stay?)

[Mrdini towers]
Clarf - Laria Raven Dano
Sef - Yoshuk and Nesrun
Clariflor - Barry Raven

[Navy Primes]
The Washington? - Thian Raven Lyon
? - Rojer Raven Lyon

[Planets without Primes/Talents (yet)?]
Arcadia

[Primes/Talents without Towers (yet)?]
Morag, Kaltia, Ewain, Petra Raven Lyon
Possibly 3 other children of Jeran
Possibly 3 children of Cera
Perry, Xahra
Pietro Matheson

[D. M. Domini]

I'm not too knowledgeable about the ex-hiver worlds, but you seem correct with the rest of it.

There's also Zara, but she's a medical Prime.

Altair still has Bastian and Maharanjani as far as we know...although I wouldn't be surprised to see Flavia eventually take over.

I'm not sure that Jeran or Cera had any Primes, though. But then again, even though it doesn't specifically mention it...it also doesn't say they *didn't* so that's up to you and your fic. (But it just seems odd that Damia and Afra's progeny are getting tossed everywhere and yet they don't meet up with Prime-level first cousins who would roughly be contemporaries. To me, that suggests that there aren't any, and that Jeff needs to put Afra and Damia under a microscope to see why every single friggin' kid they had was Prime in some way.)

Granath's Towerdex is very solid. She's awesome to have put it together!

The planets that were ex-Hiver I doubt will get permanent Towers right away unless for some reason one of the planets becomes surprisingly important. Probably will have facilities for when Primes are needed, such as at the initial colonization, but no long-haulers like Laria or Damia or Jeran. So I'd count anyone stationed there as being flexible...ie, Jeff would move them at a moment's notice.

[Jovian]

Originally Posted by D. M. Domini

I'm not too knowledgeable about the ex-hiver worlds, but you seem correct with the rest of it.

There's also Zara, but she's a medical Prime.

Altair still has Bastian and Maharanjani as far as we know...although I wouldn't be surprised to see Flavia eventually take over.

Hmm, yeah, that would make a lot of sense. I think I'll put her on Altair, thanks for the suggestion! =)

Poor Zara... I still have so many issues about the way she was treated (not to mention characterised!) Being labeled as a 'defective prime' just because she was more suited to being a medic/scientist than sitting on her ass and lobbing junk around the galaxy all day *grumbles*

Originally Posted by D. M. Domini

I'm not sure that Jeran or Cera had any Primes, though. But then again, even though it doesn't specifically mention it...it also doesn't say they *didn't* so that's up to you and your fic. (But it just seems odd that Damia and Afra's progeny are getting tossed everywhere and yet they don't meet up with Prime-level first cousins who would roughly be contemporaries. To me, that suggests that there aren't any, and that Jeff needs to put Afra and Damia under a microscope to see why every single friggin' kid they had was Prime in some way.)

Well, Jeran's oldest was Barry (a potential Prime), and he was only just old enough to be utilised in an official FT&T capacity at the end of the last book. If any of his younger siblings were also high talents, they'd still most likely be at home and in training, the same as Ewain and Petra. I imagine the same could go for Cera's kids, she was still trying out various boyfriends well after Damia hooked up with Afra. I do remember reading that all of Jeran and Cera's kids were high talents/potential primes, but can't remember where that reference is for the life of me. I think that Damia (and Larak!!) just started breeding a number of years before their older siblings, so the kids' ages are somewhat offset, and it's not surprising that Laria/Thian/Rojer didn't have much contact with them during their wandering days.

But yes, Damia's 100% Prime popout rate certainly seems suspicious to me - I suspect she did some tinkering (either consciously or unconsciously), like what'shername Horvath.

Originally Posted by D. M. Domini

Granath's Towerdex is very solid. She's awesome to have put it together!

It is an absolutely invaluable reference, particularly for a fanfic writer =D I just wish it wasn't purple - I constantly flip windows at my desk and my office is open plan, so I'm sure people wander by and wonder what the heck that purple site is, because it doesn't really look like a coding reference site ^_-

Originally Posted by D. M. Domini

The planets that were ex-Hiver I doubt will get permanent Towers right away unless for some reason one of the planets becomes surprisingly important. Probably will have facilities for when Primes are needed, such as at the initial colonization, but no long-haulers like Laria or Damia or Jeran. So I'd count anyone stationed there as being flexible...ie, Jeff would move them at a moment's notice.

Yeah, that sounds quite reasonable. I could imagine that they get lower-level talents to keep communications and trade going (much like Vagrian on Iwojima), but have to wait in line for an actual Prime. If I remember correctly, at the time of the Rowan, Deneb wasn't scheduled for one for 100 years, until Jeff came along and demanded it as a condition of his tenure. But then, there were many many fewer Primes in those days than nowabouts.

[D. M. Domini]

Originally Posted by Jovian

Poor Zara... I still have so many issues about the way she was treated (not to mention characterised!) Being labeled as a 'defective prime' just because she was more suited to being a medic/scientist than sitting on her ass and lobbing junk around the galaxy all day *grumbles*

I think the series as a whole would have fared better if Zara had become the sole protag for the 3rd book, and it was a romance like the others. She did indeed get the short straw. To be honest, I don't see what's so stressful about being Prime...it's essentially the psychic equivalent of skilled labor, which is pretty looked down upon in today's society, which is why they have to pay their Primes so much...if Talents are as above average in intelligence if they're supposed to be, I'd see them getting bored, quickly. So Zara being "too empathic for the stress of Tower life" doesn't really fly, since I'd consider being a medic to be far more stressful.

Well, Jeran's oldest was Barry (a potential Prime), and he was only just old enough to be utilised in an official FT&T capacity at the end of the last book.

Ah ha! Probably why I overlooked him, then. My knowledge of the "kids" books is sketchy.

If any of his younger siblings were also high talents, they'd still most likely be at home and in training, the same as Ewain and Petra. I imagine the same could go for Cera's kids, she was still trying out various boyfriends well after Damia hooked up with Afra. I do remember reading that all of Jeran and Cera's kids were high talents/potential primes, but can't remember where that reference is for the life of me. I think that Damia (and Larak!!) just started breeding a number of years before their older siblings, so the kids' ages are somewhat offset, and it's not surprising that Laria/Thian/Rojer didn't have much contact with them during their wandering days.

You know, you're right. I wasn't thinking that Larak and Damia's kids would be the oldest "grandkids", considering they are the youngest of Jeff and Rowan's kids and that seems backwards. But we don't know how soon Jeran and Cera started having kids, so aside from Laria and Thian I could see at least Cera's oldest being of an age with Rojer or Zara. A lot of time is covered in the last 3 books...Petra is introduced as a baby with a white streak when Laria and Thian are just getting out of the nest, and by the end, isn't she like 12 or something?

But yes, Damia's 100% Prime popout rate certainly seems suspicious to me - I suspect she did some tinkering (either consciously or unconsciously), like what'shername Horvath.

I'd hand-wave it like that, yes. Or...perhaps Afra is doing it, considering he's ultra-sensitive to the pregnancies of the women around him. Manipulating genetics doesn't require a lot of raw power...just a lot of finesse (or a talent quirk). Although I couldn't think what motivation he'd have...Damia at least might be thinking of Larak and any difficulties he may have had growing up non-Prime among 3 (or 4 if you believe Ezro is Prime--the source pegs him as Prime of Vega and a non-Prime medic depending on the book) Primes.

(Realistically, I think it's AMC just trying to make the family special.)

Yeah, that sounds quite reasonable. I could imagine that they get lower-level talents to keep communications and trade going (much like Vagrian on Iwojima), but have to wait in line for an actual Prime. If I remember correctly, at the time of the Rowan, Deneb wasn't scheduled for one for 100 years, until Jeff came along and demanded it as a condition of his tenure. But then, there were many many fewer Primes in those days than nowabouts.

Reidinger IV made noises at Afra that he had so many T-4s he didn't know what to do, and could fire Afra at will since replacements were easy. Assuming that wasn't an exaggeration, with the population of Primes exploding as it has the T-4 to T-2 range has probably expanded significantly as well so I could see them being stationed where necessary.