On Fri, 2003-06-20 at 09:52, charles_sumner at harvard.edu wrote: > At 11:27 AM 6/20/2003 +0000, Iván Rebollo wrote: > >... if there are just three open houses who accept to include members not > >born there (Jhereg by selling titles, Dzur fighting seventeen heros and > >Teckla becaming a servant), a half-breed will only be able to have a link > >to the orb and thus use sorcery through entering in one of the former three. > > This got me thinking, how does one actually get a "link to the Orb?" After > an Easterner buys a title in the Jhereg, is there a ceremony that connects > him and does that pass on to his family? This gets even more confusing in > the Teckla scenario where all one has to do to be a Teckla is be a > peasant. So if a Dragerean peasant from Greenaere or Elde moves to > Adrilankha, do they automatically get a link to the Orb, or do they have to > be formally recognized as a member of House Teckla first? In one of the book (I think BP or FHYA) there was an Easterner who came across the mountains, became a Teckla, then later went back. From what I remember of that, I think that 'becoming a Teckla' isn't as much about being accepted by the other Teckla, as much as it is one of the nobles controlling the land accepted him as a peasant to work on his land, and thus he became a Teckla. Perhaps it was automatic after that, or maybe the noble actually caused the link to happen. The Orb is very smart, and able to pry into social standings. The Dragon Council choses which line the heir should come from, then when it comes time for a Dragon to take the throne, the Orb immediately knows which Dragon to go to. Given that it can pry into human affairs in this way, I would not put it past to Orb to know who should and shouldn't have a link to it.