On Tue, 15 Jul 2003, Philip Hart wrote: > > Hmm. If the Orb can track anyone, why was the location of the > > Baroness Kaluma unknown in tPG? > > Some speculation: > > A) Tortaalik is an idiot. I could well imagine the Orb can be configured > by the user to do a variety of shall we say nondemocratic things. But > perhaps this requires a certain amount of hacking which T. can't be > expected to carry out. (I for example can't get my new printer to run > under either linux or windows...) On the other hand, I think the Orb > makes the Emperor a sort of Autarch a la Wolfe - doesn't it contain the > memories of the past Emperors? Though perhaps there are some levels of > security involved. Note that anything we hear about the Orb is suspect - > it might for example be Sethran misinformation intended to foil hacking > attempts. > > B) Tortaalik doesn't really care or it doesn't occur to him to look for > her. See A). And the various factions interested in nabbing the Baroness > don't prompt him. > > C) Boringly, we see your "privacy rights" effect at work - the Emperor > shouldn't be peeking into Adron's bedroom or wherever. > > D) We see the Orb's upgrades in action at the end of _TPotD_. Maybe only > a skilled Emperor could do what is automatic for Zerika IV. Two actual data points - in _TPG_ Chapter 11, page 115/6, we learn that Tortaalik has ordered Kathana's arrest - but she has friends in high places plus court politics on her side. Maybe Tortaalik in fact knows where she is but can't get her without unpleasant repercussions. But then during Khaavren's interrogation, page 458, it comes out that his Majesty has no idea whether Garland is even alive. In the interest of justice he would certainly ping the Favorite if he were able. Finally note that the previous Empress was an Athyra and presumably had full access to the Orb's modules - she might well have been able to tell Tortaalik where the person who provoked her abdication could be found... As an aside, are there any journalists in Dragaera beyond the Rutter's Rag variety? Does the prevalence of dueling make this impossible? Or is this not a profession allowed even under benevolent dictatorships? I'm wondering why Pel's information about the circumstances of Uttrik's father's death was so biased even though Kathana has so many powerful friends, and why it wasn't an open secret where she was hiding.