On Thu, Aug 29, 2002 at 08:37:12PM -0400, Gaertk at aol.com wrote: > And it leaves the question of how Vlad got his link, since > he father didn't buy his Jhereg title until after Vlad was I'd say that once Papa had bought the title, he and his descendants were members of House Jhereg, and of the nobility, and all got the link. When Papa died Vlad inherited the actual title, and the land and peasants (and income???) but Vlad was already Jhereg. And this isn't the English nobility, where nobility is really tied to the actual title, and other close relatives are just vaguely noble, and children of younger sons drop out of the upper class (AIUI all). No, entire Houses are noble, and it's hard to escape your House. Although there is some distinction between the noble Houses (everyone not a Teckla) and the Real Aristocracy -- which, ironically, Vlad is more of than some titleless Dragon soldier. But all the focus on nobility is misplaced; Teckla get links too. Basically Papa's title must include membership for the family in House Jhereg, and that's that. -xx- Damien X-)