Re-reading The Thief questions

[m-chant.livejournal.com]

Rereading, I'm confused about things that I think I did/would've understood the first time through but can't remember. Don't hate me, lmao! Hopefully I'm not regurgitating questions...

1. When the magus (does he have a name??) hands Gen his tools that were taken from him "when you were arrested. Not being a thief, I couldn't otherwise be sure of equipping you properly." Gen is surprised and then asks "You already knew then?" And then the magus says that the guy Gen was bragging to was an informant of his. What did the magus 'already know then'?

2. Why DOES Pol have a pry bar? And how can a pry bar possibly break a wall of obsidian? I've never been able to visualise the geography and architecture properly. When Gen sees the stairs 8 feet wide, why does he get confused that "it was on that side of the corridor where the wall was only 2 feet thick" (not verbatim quote)?

3. When Gen tells the magus to get him a piece of paper from his notebook, Sophos 'stares in astonishment'. The magus says this is because Sophos is surprised at the magus's compliance to Gen. I thought it was because Gen told the magus to shutup but I've always thought it was more than that but couldn't figure it out.

4. My math and science is pitiful. How does Archimedes' principle apply to that bridge?

5. "After years spent trying to dissuade me from wasting my time acquiring valueless skills, he had come to my study one night to tell me why the queen of Eddis would consider a marriage proposal from sounis and why her council, himself included, urge her to accept. He'd left a stack of double-heavy coins on the table and gone away." So...why does he leave the coins? Why was she considering marriage? I thought no one else knew about the volcano... 

6. Gen seems to decide that the temple where the stone was hidden was built waaaayyyyyy long ago and that every generation used it to hide the stone. I must be misreading or something. I thought the King/Queen had to wear it around their neck so why would they ever need to hide it and retrieve it?

DCC

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

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