On Wed, 19 May 2004, Philip Hart wrote: #A recent discussion about Paresh's account in _Teckla_ makes me wonder: # #What keeps a Teckla sorcerer from changing his appearance to that of a #noble house? I assume this would be against the law, of course, and #there might be social mechanisms to overcome - secret handshakes, subtle #clues, checks against birth records. But note that the Musketeers managed #ok in _TPG_ working under assumed names. I should think (based on direct #evidence anyway) that Paresh could professionally pretend to be a Chreotha #without great difficulty. # In Orca, Vlad says to Kiera something like, "But this guy spells are very hard to maintain. On the other hand, ..." [Stop and check. No, that one doesn't count. It's about concealing the fact that (...), not changing one's appearance. Orca, page 284 , Ace paperback.] In Jhereg, page 210, is the other reference I was thinking about to disguise spells, where Vlad and friends are planning the assault on Mellar. But that isn't exactly about the difficulty of disguise, either: >>> Vlad: Daymar, you're going to have to throw an illusion at me. It's going to have to be fast, thorough, and undetectable. Daymar: Undetectable? Morrolan will be able to tell that I'm throwing a spell in his castle, no matter how subtle I am. Vlad: Morrolan won't be there, so you don't need to worry about him. It does, however, have to be good enough so that a top-notch sorcerer, who WILL be there, doesn't notice it. Of course, he'll be rather busy at the time. Daymar: How long does the illusion have to stay on? Vlad: About five seconds. Daymar: No problem, then. <<< So there may be some difficulty in casting an illusion of disguise, but we don't have any clear evidence for it, at least not in the references that I can remember. -- Mark A. Mandel http://cracksandshards.com a Steven Brust Dragaera fan website [This text prepared with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.]