On Tue, 4 Nov 2003, Philip Hart wrote: >On Tue, 4 Nov 2003, David Silberstein wrote: > > >> That is in the class of scenarios that I could see resulting in his >> being cashiered from that particular army, but not expelled from the >> House. > >Say it's his third army. Say there's a popular ballad among the Dzur or >the Dragon grunts or the Teckla conscripts about Kragar riding off to >battle without his platoon behind him and having to ride back in a >hurry. Say his superior officers got sick of stumbling over him by >accident, or inadvertently discussing classified information in his >presence. Say the Dragon Council couldn't come up with anything legit to >put on his discharge papers because all the sorcerers say he can't do what >he does... > No, still don't quite buy that scenario. Before he'd be given a platoon, he would have to go for officer training, and I can't see how anyone could overlook the way he keeps being overlooked. And I don't see why multiple cashiering would be grounds for House expulsion. Once word got around, he might never be *accepted* for officer-level; indeed, he might never rise above the enlisted men, but why would furthur punishment be necessary? If he's not cut out for command, I can see his officers telling him "Get thee to a spookworks, go!". He's got the perfect set of qualifications for a field intelligence agent, and I can't see that many superior officers failing to note that. Just the other night, I was re-reading the scene in LoCB where Pel walks into Tsanalli's camp and returns with important information. What if Pel is so careful to dress flashily precisely because he otherwise fades into the background? And once again, I'd like to point out that we *have* seen that Pel was once romancing a Dragon...