toodeep wrote:
Earlier it was mentioned that if they were descended from val of Umor that might be the source of their copying ability. But that doesn't really work, does it, because we now know from WoH (word of Henry) that they can't copy Ul powers. If Val'H got their power from umor absorbing power from all the gods, then they should be able to copy any bloodline, including the Uls.
It is reported that Uls did not take part of the bloodwar. It is possible that taking part in the bloodwar may be a possibility for having your powers copied by the val'H. Additionally, it would seem to me that families that did absorb the powers of another family would be the "Major Families" and should have twice as many (or more if they absorbed more than one line) bloodline powers as the Uls.
Well. . . yes and no. You see, there weren't 11 Valinor + Anshar that made the Val Families, there were multiple of them. Aside from House Virdan and House Emman, who were blessed by the same Valinor, all the Val Families can trace their lineage to a different one. The val'Sosi, while not an original family, show this. When the Serenity of Beltine blessed the Heroes, they didn't become val'Ishi: they became a new family, because the Valinor who blessed them was different.
So if the val'Holryn are the descendants of The Other, they wouldn't have the full suite of powers. Since The Other was able to steal the power of a few gods and even kill the Gentlest of The Pantheon, but this was merely a portion of their power. His few surviving Valinor, severely weakened, would have to wait until the Blood War for a moment of weakness. By stealing the Bloodline Powers of those that participated, they would be able to survive. Going by this theory, the val'Holryn can only mimic the families that participated in the Blood War because they were the only ones they could get. The other original families were out of reach, and thus they can't possess their powers. Now, two things about this: one, the val'Cessari, for reasons I can't go into, are left out, and two, nothing says that the other families can't be added to the gene pool later. Of course, starting a Blood War 2: Electric Bogaloo is a bad idea on many,
many levels, even for me. So, that's my thoughts on it.