It is Victor in the coffin.

The two Davion fellas in front are Caleb (Hasek-Sandoval-)Davion, son of First Prince Harrison Davion, and Julian Davion, cousin to the ruling line. Thus spake Loren Coleman.

Well, I'll tell ya...

Sword of Sedition (Apr 2005), Loren L. Coleman [Part One (of 2) of "Republic in Flames"]
Daughter of the Dragon (June 2005), Ilsa Bick
Heretic's Faith (August 2005), Randall N. Bills
Fortress Republic (October 2005), Loren L. Coleman [Part Two (of 2) of "Republic in Flames"]

And beyond that?

A sequel to Daughter of the Dragon.
The "next step" in what Liao's up to.
Another Spirit Cat novel dealing with the fallout from Heretic's Faith.
Introduction of new factions into the fiction side of things. (Marik, maybe?)

Victor didn't have the political savvy to follow in either parents shoes. Actually, Victor wasn't a bad general, which is why it made sense for him to be the Star League head general. The Precentor Martial thing was nice, but he didn't have any Comstar training to earn the trust of even secular Comstar. Unfortunately, the Fedcom Civil War ruined any chance of him staying out of politics and solely within military circles.

Hanse actually seemed to have more political savvy than military skill, and he was no slouch on the battlefield. I guess all of his and Melissa's political savvy jumped Victor and went to Katherine. It's really just too bad that Victor and Katherine never were able to work together. Together they could probably have finished what Hanse started.

@Roosterboy -- did you get that out of Loren by personal communication or is it on Battlecorps or the CBT forums? I'd just like to glance if it is public.

Loren dropped into the BattleCorps chatroom a couple of Friday nights ago and was dropping hints left and right about the characters who'll be showing up in Sword of Sedition. He answered a number of our questions but didn't answer others, saying he had to keep some surprises. ;)

My notes from this chat are at home at the moment but I do remember some more tidbits:

• Melissa Steiner does not travel to Terra for Victor's funeral, instead sending Trillian (who we saw in Blood of the Isle).
• Trillian Steiner is Peter's granddaughter.
• Melissa is not the offspring of Adam, but might be from Caesar or one of Nondi's kids. (This was one of the things Loren was tight-lipped about.) He also mentioned in passing that Adam wasn't Archon for very long.
• The Steiners aren't on the best of terms with the Davions at the moment.

Hmm, I remembered less than I thought. I'll check my notes when I get home this evening and post more.

Appreciate it, Roosterboy. :grin:

More tidbits culled from Loren's hinting:

• Loren spends more time with the heirs than the current generation of leaders
• Harrison Davion is the son of Yvonne and Tancred, not the grandson as had been widely assumed
• Harrison married a Hasek
• Julian Davion is one of the youngest Prince's Champions ever
• Vincent Kurita will be on Terra. Loren couldn't remember but he thought Vincent was Hohiro's kid.
• Three Mariks and some of their kids will attend
• Trillian Steiner shows up with Jasek Kelswa-Steiner and some minor reps
• Callandre "Calamity" Kell
• Alaric Wolf. Per Loren: "beware Alaric"

Thanks for the info roosterboy. Now I'm more excited than ever. Is Alaric Wolf-in-Exile or Clan (Crusader) Wolf?

If he actually has such importance to warrant a "beware,: I doubt he'd be Steel Wolf (Anastasia Kerensky would fill that role herself, most likely). A "true" Wolf Clansman attending such events of state would invariably have a bliidname. My guess is that he's either with the Steiners (more specifically Jasek Kelswa-Steiner), since it is known that numerous Wolf in Exile members/expatriates run with the Stormhammers (if only because the Arc Royal Defense Cordon was in Lyran space and, despite their open opposition to Katherine, the Kell Hounds have traditionally been extremely pro-Steiner).

Dunno. I would say that because he's apparently showing up for Victor's funeral that he's probably WiE, but it would be just like a descendant of Vlad (and maybe Katherine?) to show up just to spite everyone. :P

@ Flushmaster

I didn't figure he would be Steelwolves. I was thinking of Vlad's Wolves.

@roosterboy

It would be fitting to have some of Vlad and Katherines descendants there causing trouble. I'm not sure why you would have to beware a WiE representative. I doubt staunch Wardens would send a troublemaker like Anastasia Kerensky to a state funeral like Vic's.

Is this the first time all the houses have been represented at a function on Terra since Hanse and Melissa's wedding? I can't think of any big happenings on Terra since then when all the houses were represented.

Whoa whoa. At what point did Adam Steiner become Archon and why? I know this had to happen during/post Jihad, but any clues to this?

Peter was tainted because he had Davion blood. It's in the Tech of Dest book, that Peter gets replaced soon after by Adam.

Good intel, Rooster, thanks.
Finally, we get intrigue again in the BT universe. I'm already having a headache trying to form bloodlines and descendents, lol. Just like when I first started CBT God knows how many years (decade??) ago. At least then the universe was still building up with actual sourcebooks, which confirmed novels. WK should produce something like the new Handbook:House______. Don't need military info, they gave us the regiment listings already, but the political landscape and history post-3067 would be interesting....

@Roosterboy -- Thanks again! It looks like Sword of Sedition is going to be a true "must have" for people interested in the Dark Age Era haps. :grin:

Also looks like you will have a lot to compress into your website. :grin:

Great intel! Keep up the good work.