In a message dated Thu, 29 Aug 2002 5:57:14 PM Eastern Standard Time, Steven Brust <skzb at dreamcafe.com> writes: > At 03:16 PM 8/22/2002 -0400, Barbara Baj wrote: >> >> Often it's mentinoned that a citizen gets a link to the >> orb. How is this actually done? > > In most cases, it happens some time shortly before birth. > Paarfi will be discussing this in, I think, volume 2 of > Viscount. Hmmm, I would never have guessed something like that. And it leaves the question of how Vlad got his link, since he father didn't buy his Jhereg title until after Vlad was born. Also, Vlad had sorcery lessons before his father's death. I would expect House Jhereg of all the Houses to not count someone as a citizen unless they've bought a title. So how did this all work? Possible answers: Vlad didn't have a link until his father's death, which explains why he isn't very good at sorcery; or Vlad's mother was a citizen (presumably a Teckla); or Vlad was officially a Teckla sworn to his father. Also, House Jhereg is all about *buying* titles, not inheriting them. So how exactly did Vlad get his father's title? 1) Vlad's father made a will specifically giving the title to Vlad. 2) Vlad's father gave him the title >from his deathbed. 3) When a Jhereg dies, all his titles are converted to cash and added to the estate (allowing the House and Empire to tax them), then after the estate is divided among the heirs, they're given an opportunity to buy back those titles (if they can afford it). That last one is my favorite. And note in _Phoenix_ when Vlad puts on his official insignia, he comments that he hasn't worn it since inheriting, which implies there was some sort of official ceremony involved then that he couldn't avoid. --KG