Dennis Higbee wrote: >Consider this against going to the Empire. People go to the Empire all >the time. The Jhereg likes to discourage this behavior and, to paraphase >on of the Vlad books, "make a 'zample outta dose sonsabitches." Hence >Morganti weapons, asssassins, and all sorts of unpleasantness. But, if >the Jhereg has a success rate for punishing stool pigeons of, say, >90 percent (and it's likely much higher), what are the consequences? Are >people really going to use the threat of going to the Empire as a lever >for blackmail, when they have a one in ten chance of not having their soul >eaten? > > I don't get any sense that people go to the Empire all the time. I do get the sense that the success rate when they do is 0% (until Vlad, at least), and also the sense that a 0% success rate is important to the House for the same reason that a 0% success rate in stealing the treasury is important to the House. And, if the rewards are great enough in a given case, the Organization will have to consider it as a risk in whatever particular plans they come up with in that case, with no guarantee that someone won't try it. But if the success rate is 0 instead of some very low number, it very effectively reduces the number of times they have to worry about that. Look at it another way: 1 successful escape increases the number of delusional attempts, and those attempts are going to be wearing on the House. Look at it again: the Jhereg top dogs look for any sort of subtle advantage they can find against each other, and they are very good at it. If one of those at the top know you can pull it off, isn't the temptation to look for another way to do so going to be overwhelming? Just the threat of it may make your peers cautious. Look at it a third way: if Vlad escapes, isn't that a commentary on the fitness of those at the top to continue to rule the Organization? Aren't some of the 2nd tier Demons-in-waiting going to sense a little weakness in their immediate bosses? If you are a Demon, aren't you going to worry a little more about someone greeting you with a knife between the shoulders? If I were on the Council, I'd see Vlad's continued liberty a threat to me personally, one way or the other. Snarkhunter