You get into a whole bunch of questions about Dragaeran reincarnation, though. How much of a choice rests with the reincarnating soul? Could it be that the Dolivar soul has tried several (dozen? hundred?) times to make its way back to power in the world, only to be reincarnated as leper, or a destitute farmer, or a third clerk in the Palace larder. Perhaps he "improved" with time, becoming slightly more or less influential with each life (there are shades of Hindu-style reincarnation in this theory). Until he hits upon/becomes Vlad. We don't know how the afterlife works. Some people become servants when they don't make it through the path correctly. Does being an aristocrat mean you will be reborn an aristocrat? Or maybe sometimes some kind of redemption is needed first.